Word.ws English Dictionary

disingenuously

UK/ˌdɪs.ɪnˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.əs.li/

disingenuously adverb: in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively.

Adverb

disingenuously (comparative more disingenuously, superlative most disingenuously)

  1. In a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively.
    • Instead of inquiring why the facts oppose the theory, and where the explanation is to be found for this remarkable discrepancy, he disingenuously endeavours to give reasons for "the causes which operated, and do commonly operate, to prevent these extraordinary drafts on the productive resources of...1874, Governor Musgrave, “Capital: Mr. Mill's Fundamental Propositions”, in The Contemporary Review, 24: 745
  2. In an unnoble manner; in a manner unbecoming of true honor or dignity; unworthily.
    • The letter's false intent trumps any truths within, which one would expect of a woman who disingenuously calls herself Fidessa.2009, Michael L. Stapleton, Spenser's Ovidian Poetics, page 98
    Synonyms:
    ignobly, unworthily
  3. In a manner that adopts a pose of naïveté, possibly to make a point or to deceive.
    • Churchill, a month later, would memorably if disingenuously describe Lend-Lease as a matter of "Give us the tools and we will finish the job." Roosevelt, a few days earlier, had described it a bit more prosaically, but no less disingenuously, as the equivalent of lending a neighbor whose house was...2005, John Steele Gordon, An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power, page 352

Synonyms of disingenuously

Antonyms

Forms of disingenuously

comparativemore disingenuously
superlativemost disingenuously

Origin of disingenuously

From disingenuous + -ly.

Questions about disingenuously

What does disingenuously mean?
Disingenuously means in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively.
What part of speech is disingenuously?
Disingenuously is an adverb.
How do you pronounce disingenuously?
Disingenuously is pronounced /ˌdɪs.ɪnˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.əs.li/ (UK).

Words near disingenuously in the dictionary

  1. disingenous
  2. disingenuine
  3. disingenuities
  4. disingenuity
  5. disingenuous
  6. disingenuously
  7. disingenuousness
  8. disinhabited
  9. disinherison
  10. disinherisons
  11. disinherit

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: disingenuously (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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