hypocrisy
/hɪˈpɒkɹəsi/US/hɪˈpɑkɹəsi/
hypocrisy noun: the 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.
Noun
hypocrisy (countable and uncountable, plural hypocrisies)
- The 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
- He condemned the hypocrisy of politicians who broke their own laws.
- The claim or pretense of having beliefs, standards, qualities, behaviours, virtues, motivations, etc. which one does not really have.
- rank hypocrisy
- charge of hypocrisy
- The practice of engaging in the same behaviour or activity for which one criticises another; moral self-contradiction whereby the behavior of one or more people belies their own claimed or implied possession of certain beliefs, standards or virtues.
- An instance of hypocrisy.
hypocrisy meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
hypocrisy in Hindi
- claim, pretense, or false representation of holding beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not actually possess
- ढोंग ḍhoṅg, पाखंड pākhaṇḍ
hypocrisy in Tamil
- தான் நம்பாத, போலித்தனம், பாசாங்கு, உள்ளொன்று வைத்து புறமொன்று பேசுதல், சொல்வது ஒன்று, செய்வது வேறு
hypocrisy in Marathi
- ढोंगीपणा, पाखंड, कपटीपणा
hypocrisy in Urdu
- عدم خلوص, ڈھکوسلا, دھوکا, ڈھونگ, جھوٹ, مکاری
More languagesFewer languages
- hypocrisy in Bengali
- সাধারণ অর্থে ভান, ছল, কপটতা, মানদণ্ড
- hypocrisy in Telugu
- కపటము kapaṭamu, డంబము ḍambamu
- hypocrisy in Malayalam
- ഹിപ്പോക്രസി hippōkrasi
- hypocrisy in Kannada
- ಕಪಟತನ, ಧೂರ್ತತನ, ಗಯ್ಯಾಳಿತನ, ಗಾಯಾಳಿತನ
- hypocrisy in Punjabi
- ਦੰਭ dambh
- hypocrisy in Gujarati
- પાખંડ, દંભ, ઢોંગીપણું
- hypocrisy in Odia
- ଭଣ୍ଡାମି, କପଟତା
- hypocrisy in Assamese
- শাল xal
- hypocrisy in Nepali
- पाखण्ड, पाखंड, कपटीता
- hypocrisy in Tagalog
- patumapat, katalipandasan
- hypocrisy in Arabic
- رِيَاء riyāʔ, نِفَاق nifāq
- hypocrisy in Indonesian
- kemunafikan
- hypocrisy in Persian
- دورویی doruyi, ریاکاری riyākārī, ریا riyā
- hypocrisy in Vietnamese
- đạo đức giả, giả hình
Examples of hypocrisy in a sentence
- The number one personality trait I hate is hypocrisy. Why can't you be consistent!?
- The reporter cornered the politician by pointing out the hypocrisy of his position on mandatory sentencing, in light of the politician's own actions in court.
- As declared governmental policy during the French revolution, “terrorism” had at least the advantage of avoiding hypocrisy.
Synonyms of hypocrisy
Forms of hypocrisy
| plural | hypocrisies |
|---|
Origin of hypocrisy
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.
Questions about hypocrisy
- What does hypocrisy mean?
- Hypocrisy means the 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.
- What is hypocrisy in Hindi?
- Hypocrisy in Hindi is ढोंग (ḍhoṅg), पाखंड (pākhaṇḍ). See Hypocrisy meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is hypocrisy?
- Hypocrisy is a noun.
- How do you pronounce hypocrisy?
- Hypocrisy is pronounced /hɪˈpɒkɹəsi/ (UK).
- What is the plural of hypocrisy?
- The plural of hypocrisy is hypocrisies.
Words near hypocrisy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hypocrisy (page history and authors); hypocrisy (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hypocrisy (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hypocrisy (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); hypocrisy (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); కపటము (Telugu) (page history and authors); ഹിപ്പോക്രസി (Malayalam) (page history and authors); hypocrisy (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ਦੰਭ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); hypocrisy (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); hypocrisy (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); শাল (Assamese) (page history and authors); hypocrisy (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hypocrisy.wav.
Cite this entry: “hypocrisy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hypocrisy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.