weasel word

Meanings

1. A word that negates or removes the meaning of the word it qualifies.
2. A word used to hedge a statement, for example to make it vague, equivocal, or misleading.

1. To use weasel words.

Etymology

Initially a reference to weasels' practice of making small holes in eggs and then eating the contents, leaving the shell; later sometimes taken as a reference to the weasel's "wriggling, evasive character".