palter

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

verb be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information

Probably from Middle English *palter (“rag, trifle, worthless thing”), from Middle Low German palter (“rag, cloth”). More at paltry.

Such paltering with principle was impossible to Harriet Martineau. — Harriet Martineau, Florence Fenwick Miller
She was paltering with sin, giving her heart to a heretic. — Linnet: A Romance, Grant Allen
None may palter with the King’s command, or fit it to his ease, where it doth chafe, with deft evasions. — The Prince and the Pauper, Mark Twain

beat around the bush, equivocate, tergiversate, prevaricate

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