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/

• audio (US)

  (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.

   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

• act the hypocrite
• hypocrite commit
• hypocrite plant

Translations

See also

• two-faced
• double standard
• hypocritical

Further reading

• The Origin of the Term Hypokritēs

Anagrams

• rheotypic

French

Pronunciation

• ^{(mute h)} IPA^(key): /i.pɔ.kʁit/

• audio

  (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

• hypocritement

Noun

hypocrite m or f by sense (plural hypocrites)

1. hypocrite

Synonyms

• (informal) faux-cul, faux cul, faux jeton

Further reading

• “hypocrite”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Anagrams

• chypriote, Chypriote