Meanings
nounhypocrisy (countable and uncountable, plural hypocrisies)
plural hypocrisies
- countableuncountableThe contrivance of a false appearance of virtue or goodness, while concealing real character or inclinations, especially with respect to religious and moral beliefs; hence in general sense, dissimulation, pretence, sham.
political hypocrisy
1 more example
He condemned the hypocrisy of politicians who broke their own laws.
- countableuncountableAn instance of hypocrisy.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction
Similar
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Ancient Greekὑπόκρισις“answer, stage acting, pretense”
- Late Latinhypocrisis
- Old Frenchypocrisie
- Middle Englishipocrisie
- Englishhypocrisy
From hypo- + Ancient Greek κρί(σις) (krí(sis)) + -isy. From Middle English ipocrisie, from Old French ypocrisie, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόκρισις (hupókrisis, “answer, stage acting, pretense”), from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “I answer (a fellow actor on stage), play a part, dissemble, feign”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under, equivalent of the modern "hypo-" prefix”) + the middle voice of κρίνω (krínō, “I separate, judge, decide”) + -isy. Displaced native Old English līċettung.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans skynheiligheid
- skynheiligheidclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Arabic رِيَاء, نِفَاق
- رِيَاء (riyāʔ)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- نِفَاق (nifāq)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Bulgarian лицемерие, двуличие
- лицемерие (licemerie)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- двуличие (dvuličie)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Catalan hipocresia
- hipocresiaclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Chinese Mandarin 虛偽 /虚伪, 假惺惺
- 虛偽 /虚伪 (xūwěi)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- 假惺惺 (jiǎxīngxīng)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- 偽善 /伪善 (wěishàn)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Czech pokrytectví, přetvářka
- pokrytectvíclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- přetvářkaclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- licoměrnostclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Danish hykleri
- hyklericlaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Dutch hypocrisie, huichelarij
- hypocrisieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- huichelarijclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- schijnheiligheidclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Esperanto hipokriteco, hipokritaĵo
- hipokritecoclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- hipokritaĵoclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- hipokritoclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Finnish tekopyhyys, ulkokultaisuus
- tekopyhyysclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- ulkokultaisuusclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
French hypocrisie, faux-culterie
- hypocrisieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- faux-culterieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- tartuferieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- tartufferieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
German Heuchelei, Scheinheiligkeit
- Heucheleiclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- Scheinheiligkeitclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- Hypokrisieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- Tartüfferieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- Doppelmoralapplying criticism to others that one does not apply equally to oneself
Greek υποκρισία
- υποκρισία (ypokrisía)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Hebrew צביעות \ צְבִיעוּת
- צביעות \ צְבִיעוּת (tsviút)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Hindi ढोंग, पाखंड
- ढोंग (ḍhoṅg)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- पाखंड (pākhaṇḍ)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Hungarian álszentség, képmutatás
- álszentségclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- képmutatásclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- képmutatásapplying criticism to others that one does not apply equally to oneself
Icelandic hræsni, yfirdrepsskapur
- hræsniclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- yfirdrepsskapurclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- uppgerðclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Indonesian kemunafikan
- kemunafikanclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Irish fimínteacht, bréagchrábhadh
- fimínteachtclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- bréagchrábhadhclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Italian ipocrisia
- ipocrisiaclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Japanese 偽善
- 偽善 (gizen)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Korean 위선
- 위선 (wiseon)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Norwegian Bokmål hykleri, hykling
- hyklericlaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- hyklingclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- skinnhellighetclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Persian دورویی, ریاکاری
- دورویی (doruyi)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- ریاکاری (riyākārī)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- ریا (riyā)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Polish hipokryzja
- hipokryzjaclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Portuguese hipocrisia
- hipocrisiaclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Romanian ipocrizie
- ipocrizieclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Russian лицеме́рие, двули́чие
- лицеме́рие (licemérije)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- двули́чие (dvulíčije)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- ха́нжество (xánžestvo)applying criticism to others that one does not apply equally to oneself
Scottish Gaelic fuar-chràbhadh, breug-chràbhadh
- fuar-chràbhadhclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- breug-chràbhadhclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- hiopocrasaidhclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Slovak pokrytectvo, pretvárka
- pokrytectvoclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- pretvárkaclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Spanish hipocresía
- hipocresíaclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Swedish hyckleri, dubbelmoral
- hycklericlaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- dubbelmoralapplying criticism to others that one does not apply equally to oneself
Tagalog patumapat, katalipandasan
- patumapatclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- katalipandasanclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Turkish ikiyüzlülük
- ikiyüzlülükclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Ukrainian лицемі́рство, дволи́чність
- лицемі́рство (lycemírstvo)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- дволи́чність (dvolýčnistʹ)claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Vietnamese đạo đức giả, giả hình
- đạo đức giảclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- giả hìnhclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Welsh rhagrith
- rhagrithclaim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
Cite this entry
APA
hypocrisy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypocrisy
MLA
“hypocrisy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypocrisy. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hypocrisy,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hypocrisy.
Source: hypocrisy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.