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prevaricate about [noun]
prevaricate 是不及物动词，后接话题时常用介词 about 或 over。
The politician prevaricated about the details of the deal.
那位政客对这笔交易的细节支吾其辞。
支吾；搪塞；含糊其辞
prevaricates — third person singular of prevaricate
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
支吾；搪塞；含糊其辞
to speak or act evasively, especially to avoid telling the truth or to withhold information
The politician prevaricated about the details of the deal.
那位政客对这笔交易的细节支吾其辞。
故意含糊其辞或回避；搪塞。
To speak or act in a manner that is intentionally ambiguous or evasive; equivocate.
串通,如告密者与被告串通进行虚假起诉。
To collude, as where an informer colludes with the defendant, and makes a sham prosecution.
prevaricate
Base
原形
prevaricates
3rd person
第三人称单数
prevaricating
-ing
现在分词
prevaricated
Past
过去式
prevaricated
Past participle
过去分词
He tends to prevaricate when asked about his past.
当被问及他的过去时，他往往会支吾其辞。
She prevaricated for a moment before giving her answer.
她支吾了一会儿才给出回答。
They have prevaricated on this issue for weeks.
他们在这个问题上已经搪塞了好几个星期。
prevaricate 是正式用词，指故意含糊其辞或回避真相，而非单纯地撒谎。
When my son asked why he was late, he started to prevaricate instead of telling the truth.
当我儿子被问到为什么迟到时，他开始支吾其辞，而不是说实话。
She prevaricated for several minutes, but finally admitted she had forgotten the appointment.
她支吾了好几分钟，但最终承认自己忘了那次约会。
Stop prevaricating and tell me exactly what happened yesterday.
别再搪塞了，告诉我昨天到底发生了什么。
prevaricate 是不及物动词，后接话题时常用介词 about 或 over。
The politician prevaricated about the details of the deal.
那位政客对这笔交易的细节支吾其辞。
该结构描述在某疑问或压力情境下回避正面回答。
She prevaricated when reporters asked about her plans.
记者问起她的计划时，她含糊其辞。
常用于祈使句，要求对方停止回避。
Stop prevaricating and give us a straight answer.
别再搪塞了，直接给我们一个明确的答复。
Not this
The official prevaricated the journalist's question.
Use this
The official prevaricated about the journalist's question.
prevaricate 是不及物动词，后面不能直接跟宾语。表达“对……搪塞”时需加介词 about（或 over），所以应说 prevaricate about the question，而不能说 prevaricate the question。
Not this
Stop prevaricating and finish your homework.
Use this
Stop procrastinating and finish your homework.
两个词形近义不同：procrastinate 意为“拖延”，prevaricate 意为“含糊其辞、搪塞”。原句想表达“别拖延”，应改用 procrastinate；用 prevaricate 语义不通。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
对某事支吾搪塞
He prevaricated about his plans for the weekend.
他对自己周末的计划支吾搪塞。
在询问下含糊其辞
The witness began to prevaricate under questioning.
证人在询问下开始含糊其辞。
别再搪塞
Stop prevaricating and tell me the truth.
别再搪塞了，告诉我真相。
拒绝搪塞
She refused to prevaricate and gave a straight answer.
她拒绝搪塞，给出了直接回答。
支吾搪塞而不愿承认某事
He prevaricated rather than admit his mistake.
他支吾搪塞，不愿承认自己的错误。
Use prevaricates naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
记 prevaricate：前半 pre 像‘预先’，中间 var 像 vary（变化）——预先变着说法绕弯子，就是支吾搪塞。
语域：formal 常见场景：正式辩论、法律质询、新闻报道 prevaricate 是比较正式的用词，多用于书面语或正式场合，表示故意含糊其辞或回避真相。日常口语中较少使用，比较常见于政治、法律等严肃语境。
这些词都以 -icate 结尾，但重音不同，因此与 prevaricate /priˈværɪkeɪt/ 不押韵。其中 indicate、implicate、predicate、communicate 虽以 /keɪt/ 结尾，但重音在第一个或第二个音节的前部，和 prevaricate 的 /værɪkeɪt/ 不同；delicate 和 intricate 末尾读 /ət/，是典型的形近音异词。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.