1
as in to pretend
to present a false appearance of
he dissembled happiness at the news that his old girlfriend was getting married—to someone else
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in to dissimulate
to take on a false or deceptive appearance
children learn to dissemble at a surprisingly early age
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of dissemble
Authorities were forced to dissemble the back deck in order to rescue some of the pups that were beneath, according to the Strong Island Animal Rescue League, who assisted with the efforts.
—
David Matthews, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
Building trust in companies and their leaders isn’t easy, given many decades of dissembling.
—Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.
—Aryeh Neier, The New York Review of Books, 3 Mar. 2025
Pushing back on reporters, at the time Scher often dissembled and appeared to brush aside concerns about what was clearly an increasingly out-of-control situation.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 19 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for dissemble
David Matthews, New York Daily News, 7 Aug. 2025
Building trust in companies and their leaders isn’t easy, given many decades of dissembling.
—Steve Denning, Forbes.com, 6 July 2025
You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.
—Aryeh Neier, The New York Review of Books, 3 Mar. 2025
Pushing back on reporters, at the time Scher often dissembled and appeared to brush aside concerns about what was clearly an increasingly out-of-control situation.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 19 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for dissemble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissemble
Verb
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The criminals then follow up by phone, pretending to be IT support and ask employees to join screen-sharing sessions or install remote-access software.—
Gene Marks,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
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Beauty, then, arises from the pain and struggle of experiencing oneself as a site of divine truancy, and ugly is that which pretends to be directly equivalent to the soul, God, etc.—
Esther Yi,
New Yorker,
14 June 2026
Verb
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Prioritize safety, stay impeccably informed, and assume responsibility to shield lives and property.—
CA Weather Bot,
Sacbee.com,
19 June 2026
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And perhaps more to the point, the genome might not submit to the kind of straightforward input-output approach that such AI models ultimately assume.—
Philip Ball,
Quanta Magazine,
18 June 2026
Verb
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At May Mobility, Olson said that involves installing systems in autonomous cars that are capable of simulating and assessing various scenarios simultaneously and choosing the best option.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
16 June 2026
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These clocks help ensure a peaceful morning by simulating the gradual light produced by a sunrise.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
15 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dissemble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissemble. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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