dissemble

play

verb dis·sem·ble \di-ˈsem-bəl\

Definition of dissemble

dissembled

;

dissembling

play \-b(ə-)liŋ\

transitive verb
1 : to hide under a false appearance dissembling the facts
2 : to put on the appearance of : simulate She lay down and dissembled sleep.
intransitive verb
: to put on a false appearance : conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense He had dissembled about the risks involved.

dissembler

play \-b(ə-)lər\ noun

See dissemble defined for English-language learners

See dissemble defined for kids

dissemble was our Word of the Day on 11/10/2012. Hear the podcast!

Examples of dissemble in a Sentence

he dissembled happiness at the news that his old girlfriend was getting married—to someone else
children learn to dissemble at a surprisingly early age

Recent Examples of dissemble from the Web

Day by day, thanks to the Times's reporting, Donald Trump Jr. has been dissembling about how and why a meeting with a Russian lawyer came about.

— dan balz, chicagotribune.com, "A revelation unlike any other in the Russia investigation," 11 July 2017
Day by day, thanks to the Times’s reporting, Donald Trump Jr. has been dissembling about how and why a meeting with a Russian lawyer came about.

— dan balz, Washington Post, "A revelation unlike any other in the Russia investigation," 11 July 2017
It was carefully dissembled by Charlie Wood and members of the city's parks department and relocated to its present location at Holland Lake.

— lance winter, star-telegram.com, "John J. Hamilton log cabin receives special marker," 27 June 2017
As commentators across the ideological spectrum have come to see, Hillary Clinton’s ongoing dissembling about the 2016 election has finally veered into something like absurdist comedy.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "Hillary not the only Dem who doesn't get 2016," 2 June 2017
Sacramento may not know how to manage money and prioritize spending, but legislative leaders do know how to dissemble and divert public attention from the reality of the budget process.

— vince fong, Orange County Register, "Why taxes continue to go up and up," 27 May 2017
Service ☆☆ Someone on staff should have warned us about the crab’s pricing, and instructed on how to dissemble the crab.

— carla meyer, sacbee, "An $80 Dungeness and other tales from Sacramento’s Boiling Crab," 18 May 2017
Presidents, to be sure, have long dissembled on matters of national security.

— mark landler, New York Times, "Trump’s Falsehoods Make Foreign Leaders Ask: Can We Trust Him?," 31 Jan. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dissemble.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

We don't have anything to hide: "dissemble" is a synonym of "disguise," "cloak," and "mask." "Disguise" implies a change in appearance or behavior that misleads by presenting a different apparent identity. "Cloak" suggests a means of hiding a movement or an intention. "Mask" suggests some often obvious means of hiding or disguising something. "Dissemble" (from Latin dissimulare, meaning "to hide or conceal") stresses the intent to deceive, especially about one's own thoughts or feelings, and often implies that the deception is something that would warrant censure if discovered.