Meanings
- not comparableDeceitful; hypocritical; treacherous.
Fame , if not double-faced , is double-mouthed , And with contrary blast proclaims most deed
1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC1 more example
A deep-seated misgiving about U.S. Asian policy is spreading among anti-Communists in Southeast Asia, who fear that the Korean truce is the first sign of U.S. withdrawal. In Hong Kong, anti-Communist Chinese newspapers, even those critical of Chiang, now talk about “U.S. double-faced diplomacy.” One said that “Ike and Dulles have stepped right into Acheson’s shoes.”
1953 December 7, “ASIA: The Two Anti-Communists”, in TIMESynonyms: double-hearted, Janus-faced, two-faced, beguiling, deceitful, deceptious, deceptive, deceptory
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving two functional faces.
adjectiveDeceitful; hypocritical; treacherous.
More synonyms by meaning
adjective(of fabrics) having faces on both sides
adjectivemarked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Bulgarian двуличен, лицемерен
- двуличен (dvuličen)hypocritical; treacherous
- лицемерен (licemeren)hypocritical; treacherous
Finnish kaksinaamainen, petollinen
- kaksinaamainenhypocritical; treacherous
- petollinenhypocritical; treacherous
- kavalahypocritical; treacherous
Turkish ikiyüzlü
- ikiyüzlühypocritical; treacherous
Cite this entry
double-faced. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double-faced
“double-faced.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double-faced. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “double-faced,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/double-faced.
Source: double-faced on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.