SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
evasive
adjective
Avoiding a direct answer, clear commitment, or straightforward course of action.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Avoiding a direct reply
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topEvasive suggests deliberate avoidance; a vague answer may instead result from uncertainty.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See evasive in use
Her evasive reply left the committee unsure whether she had accepted the assignment.
The staff member's evasive response to a parent's question discussed the store's friendly atmosphere without answering why other families had been excluded.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license