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Synonyms for beat around the bush
| Grammar : Verb |
| Spell : boo sh |
| Phonetic Transcription : bʊʃ |
Top 10 synonyms for beat around the bush Other synonyms for the word beat around the bush
- arrest
- avoid
- avoid the issue
- back and fill
- balk
- bamboozle
- be beyond someone
- be noncommittal
- beat around the bush
- beg the question
- belie
- bilk
- blow hot and cold
- brake
- cavil
- cheat
- check
- circumvent
- cloud the issue
- con
- cop a plea
- cop out
- cover up
- creep
- dance around
- dance around an issue
- deceive
- defraud
- die
- distort
- ditch
- dodge
- double
- double-talk
- drag one's feet
- duck
- duck the issues
- dupe
- elude
- equivocate
- escape
- eschew
- euphemize
- evade
- exaggerate
- fabricate
- falsify
- fence
- fib
- filibuster
- flee
- fleece
- flimflam
- flip-flop
- fly
- fool
- fudge
- fudge and mudge
- garble
- get around
- get away from
- give run around
- give the run around
- give the runaround
- give the slip
- give wide berth to
- glide
- gull
- hedge
- hem and haw
- hold off
- hoodwink
- hum and haw
- invent
- jive
- lay low
- lie
- lurk
- mince words
- misrepresent
- misspeak
- not move
- not touch
- palter
- parry
- pass the buck
- pass up
- phony up
- play for time
- play it close to the vest
- postpone
- prevaricate
- prowl
- pull a fast one
- pussyfoot
- put off
- put on
- puzzle
- quibble
- renege
- rip off
- run around
- sandbag
- scam
- shaft
- shift
- shilly-shally
- shirk
- shuck
- shuffle
- shun
- shut down
- shy
- sidestep
- sit on the fence
- skirt
- skulk
- slide
- slink
- slip
- slip out
- slow
- slow down
- sneak
- sneak away
- stall
- stand
- stand off
- stand still
- stay
- stay shy of
- steal
- steer clear of
- stiff
- still
- sting
- stonewall
- stop
- stump
- suspend
- take for a ride
- take one's time
- take to the cleaners
- tap dance
- tapdance
- tarry
- tell white lie
- temporize
- tergiversate
- tergiverse
- thwart
- tiptoe
- tread warily
- trick
- waffle
- watch one's step
- weasel
- welsh
- worm one's way out of
Définition of beat around the bush
Origin :- "many-stemmed woody plant," Old English bysc, from West Germanic *busk "bush, thicket" (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German busc, Dutch bosch, bos, German Busch). Influenced by or combined with cognate words from Scandinavian (cf. Old Norse buskr, Danish busk, but this might be from West Germanic) and Old French (busche "firewood," apparently of Frankish origin), and also perhaps Anglo-Latin bosca "firewood," from Medieval Latin busca (whence Italian bosco, Spanish bosque, French bois), which apparently also was borrowed from West Germanic; cf. Boise.
- In British American colonies, applied from 1650s to the uncleared districts, hence "country," as opposed to town (1780); probably originally from Dutch bosch in the same sense, because it seems to appear first in English in former Dutch colonies. Meaning "pubic hair" (especially of a woman) is from 1745. To beat the bushes (mid-15c.) is a way to rouse birds so that they fly into the net which others are holding, which originally was the same thing as beating around the bush (see beat (v.)).
- As in prevaricate : verb deceive; stretch the truth
- As in pussyfoot : verb be cautious
- As in stall : verb delay for own purposes
- As in weasel : verb avoid, evade
- As in welsh : verb renege, swindle
- As in hem and haw : verb hesitate
- As in elude : verb avoid; escape
- As in equivocate : verb avoid an issue
- As in hedge : verb avoid, dodge
Antonyms for beat around the bush
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019