hypocrite

English

Etymology

From Old French ypocrite (Modern French hypocrite), from Latin hypocrita, from Ancient Greek ὑποκριτής (hupokritḗs, actor, hypocrite), from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, I answer, act, feign). Displaced native Old English līċettere.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈhɪ.pə.kɹɪt/
  • (file)

Noun

hypocrite (plural hypocrites)

  1. Someone who practices hypocrisy, who pretends to hold beliefs, or whose actions are not consistent with their claimed beliefs. [from early 13th c.]
    Synonyms: flip-flopper, pretender; see also Thesaurus:deceiver
    • 1765, Catherine Jemmat, The Memoirs of Mrs. Catherine Jemmat, Daughter of the Late Admiral Yeo, of Plymouth. Written by Herself, 2nd edition, volume I, London: Printed for the author, at Charing-Cross, →OCLC, page 145:
      [S]he was one of your ſoft ſpoken, canting, whining hypocrites, who with a truly jeſuitical art, could wreſt evil out of the moſt inoffenſive thought, word, look or action; []
    • 2012 November 30, Paul Finkelman, “The Real Thomas Jefferson: The Monster of Monticello”, in New York Times:
      Neither Mr. Meacham, who mostly ignores Jefferson’s slave ownership, nor Mr. Wiencek, who sees him as a sort of fallen angel who comes to slavery only after discovering how profitable it could be, seem willing to confront the ugly truth: the third president was a creepy, brutal hypocrite.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Pronunciation

  • (mute h) IPA(key): /i.pɔ.kʁit/
  • (file)

Adjective

hypocrite (plural hypocrites)

  1. hypocritical
    • 1857, Charles Baudelaire, “Au lecteur”, in Les Fleurs du mal [The Flowers of Evil], Paris: Poulet-Malassis et De Broise:
      Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat, /Hypocrite lecteur, — mon semblable, — mon frère !
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

Noun

hypocrite m or f by sense (plural hypocrites)

  1. hypocrite

Synonyms

Further reading

Anagrams

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.