Words / T / General

temporize

verb/ˈtɛmpəraɪz/

C2CEFR level
82/100Rarity: very rare
FormalRegister

To delay or act evasively in order to gain time or avoid committing oneself.

The government temporized, promising a review rather than a decision.

Similar: stall, procrastinate, hedge

Origin: From Medieval Latin temporizare 'to pass time', from tempus 'time'.

Topic: evasion in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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More general words: evasion