Meaning & use
evasive speaker
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Meanings
phrasecountable
A person who speaks in a way that avoids giving clear or direct answers.
Grammar: Used as a countable noun phrase: an evasive speaker, the evasive speaker, evasive speakers.
Patterns
- an evasive speaker
- be an evasive speaker
- come across as an evasive speaker
The interview was difficult because the manager was an evasive speaker who never answered directly.
She sounded like an evasive speaker when she kept changing the subject.
Voters are tired of evasive speakers in debates.
phrasecountable
A person who avoids talking about a topic, often to hide something.
Grammar: Often used with 'about': an evasive speaker about money.
Patterns
- an evasive speaker about something
- be evasive about something
He was an evasive speaker about his past, so nobody trusted him.
The witness seemed like an evasive speaker about the details of the night.
Word forms
| plural | evasive speakers |
|---|
Common combinations
- sound like an evasive speaker
- On the phone, he sounded like an evasive speaker who wanted to end the call.
- come across as an evasive speaker
- She came across as an evasive speaker because she used vague language.
- a notoriously evasive speaker
- The CEO is a notoriously evasive speaker when asked about profits.
- an evasive speaker in interviews
- Politicians can be evasive speakers in interviews.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dodger
- A dodger avoids a duty or question, often by trickery; an evasive speaker may avoid simply by being vague, not necessarily dishonest.
- equivocator
- An equivocator uses ambiguous language to mislead; an evasive speaker may avoid answers without intending to deceive.
Opposites
Word family
- evade verb
- to avoid or escape something, often by cleverness
- evasion noun
- the act of avoiding something, especially a question or duty
- evasively adverb
- in a way that avoids giving a clear answer
- evasiveness noun
- the quality of being evasive
Commonly confused: evasive speaker or invasive speaker?
evasive speaker vs invasive speaker
Evasive means avoiding clear answers; invasive means entering where you are not wanted.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'evasive speaker' correctly?
Choose one answer.
An evasive speaker avoids giving clear answers. Option 2 fits because the politician refuses to answer directly. Option 1 contradicts the meaning by saying 'explained clearly'; option 3 also contradicts by saying 'detailed examples'; option 4 describes volume, not evasion.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “evasive speaker”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.