dissemble

verb dis·sem·ble \ di-ˈsem-bəl \

|Updated on: 26 Jun 2018

Examples: dissemble in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

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

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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

Under those faintly menacing tendrils, people change, become furtive, dissembling, with it, rotten as the jungles whence come the plants.

— esther mobley, SFChronicle.com, "SF’s Interval puts the fern bar on a cocktail menu," 20 June 2018
Anna hemmed and hawed and dissembled and prevaricated and, as the women got increasingly angry, allowed two fat tears to roll down her cheeks.

— jessica pressler, The Cut, "Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of It," 28 May 2018
The panels of beef emerge beautifully tender, the connecting stitches of fat visible to the eye but dissembling immediately on the tongue.

— ligaya mishan, New York Times, "At Ho Foods, a Noodle Soup That Nourishes and Transports," 19 Apr. 2018
Each read the other’s blundering and dissembling as intentional, deepening suspicions among hard-liners that the other side was laying the groundwork for war.

— max fisher, The Seattle Times, "Hawaii false alarm hints at thin line between mishap and nuclear war," 14 Jan. 2018
Unhealthy dynamics promote dissembling where directness serves us best, unfortunately.

— carolyn hax, idahostatesman, "Don’t forbid your sisters from dating your friends," 22 Jan. 2018
Unhealthy dynamics promote dissembling where directness serves us best, unfortunately.

— carolyn hax, idahostatesman, "Don’t forbid your sisters from dating your friends," 22 Jan. 2018
Before fixing, explaining, interpreting, dissembling, or devil’s advocating.

— ronnie polaneczky, Philly.com, "What are men for? Here's one idea | Ronnie Polaneczky," 9 Mar. 2018

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.