prevaricator

\ pri-VAR-i-key-ter \ , noun;

1.

a person who speaks falsely; liar.

2.

a person who speaks so as to avoid the precise truth; quibbler; equivocator.

via Word of the Day | Definition, Word Origins, and Quotes at Dictionary.com.

Quotes:

Add to this general observation, the particular circumstance that in simple spirits, the remorse caused by committing some evil act often becomes confused with ancestral fears of every kind, and the result will be that the punishment of the prevaricator  ends up being, without mercy or pity, twice what he deserved.

— José Saramago, Blindness , 1995

“Whose words are now false? You twist-tongued prevaricator , did I not see with these very eyes that man you speak of save you from those three peasants—”

— Rebecca Reisert, The Third Witch , 2001

Origin:

Prevaricator  came to English in the mid-1500s from the Latin praev?ric?tor  meaning “unfaithful advocate.”

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