noun
Etymology: weasel (I) + word; from the weasel's reputed habit of sucking the contents out of an egg white leaving the shell superficially intact
: a word that destroys the force of a statement by equivocal qualification
I have couched my comments … in the most innocuous of weasel words — Richard Joseph
: a word used in order to evade or retreat from a direct or forthright statement or position
weasel words are the adman's way of crossing his finger behind his back when he makes a somewhat elastic statement — Robert Littell