Word.ws English Dictionary

speak with a forked tongue

speak with a forked tongue verb: to speak deceptively; to be duplicitous or untruthful.

Verb

speak with a forked tongue (third-person singular simple present speaks with a forked tongue, present participle speaking with a forked tongue, simple past spoke with a forked tongue, past participle spoken with a forked tongue)

  1. (idiomatic) To speak deceptively; to be duplicitous or untruthful.
    • He's spoken with a forked tongue to reporters, and his explanations for launching a probe don't pass the plausibility and credibility tests.2008 March 26, “Let a real "probe" begin”, in Sandusky Register online, retrieved 26 Mar 2008

speak with a forked tongue meaning in Bengali

speak with a forked tongue in Bengali

প্রতারণার সাথে কথা বলা, কপট, অসত‍্য হওয়া

Forms of speak with a forked tongue

third-person singular presentspeaks with a forked tongue
present participlespeaking with a forked tongue
pastspoke with a forked tongue
past participlespoken with a forked tongue

Origin of speak with a forked tongue

* Possibly from the split tongue of a snake.

Questions about speak with a forked tongue

What does speak with a forked tongue mean?
Speak with a forked tongue means to speak deceptively; to be duplicitous or untruthful.
What is speak with a forked tongue in Bengali?
Speak with a forked tongue in Bengali is প্রতারণার সাথে কথা বলা, কপট, অসত‍্য হওয়া. See Speak with a forked tongue meaning in Bengali.
What part of speech is speak with a forked tongue?
Speak with a forked tongue is a verb.
What is the past tense of speak with a forked tongue?
The past tense of speak with a forked tongue is spoke with a forked tongue.

Words near speak with a forked tongue in the dictionary

  1. speak too soon
  2. speak truth to power
  3. speak up
  4. speak volumes
  5. speak well of
  6. speak with a forked tongue
  7. speak'st
  8. speak-box
  9. speak-boxes
  10. speak-out
  11. speak-outs

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: speak with a forked tongue (page history and authors); speak with a forked tongue (Bengali Wiktionary) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-speak with a forked tongue.ogg.

Cite this entry: “speak with a forked tongue.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/speak_with_a_forked_tongue. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.