hypocrite

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C1 — Advanced

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives

Etymology

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

In classic literature

Synonyms

dissembler, dissimulator, phony, phoney, pretender

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