duplicitous

adjective

du·​plic·​i·​tous du̇-ˈpli-sə-təs 

 also  dyu̇-

: marked by duplicity : deceptive in words or action

duplicitous tactics

duplicitously adverb

Did you know?

The Double Nature of Duplicity and Duplicitous

The idea of doubleness is at the core of duplicity and duplicitous. Duplicity is the older of the pair; it comes from a Latin word meaning "double" or "twofold," and its original meaning in English has to do with a kind of deception in which you intentionally hide your true feelings or intentions behind false words or actions. If you are being duplicitous there are two yous: the one you're showing and the one you're hiding. And—key to the idea of duplicity—you're hiding the hidden you in order to make people believe something that's not true.

The word is found in many works of literature, including the Bible:

The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their duplicity.
— Proverbs 11:3 (New International Version)

Even when he sat opposite me in the kitchen, talking, he would turn his head a little toward the clock or the stove and look at me from the side, but with frankness and good nature. This trick did not suggest duplicity or secretiveness ...
— Willa Cather, My Antonia, 1918

Arch read it at breakfast the day it came out and again that night. He admired its art but was most affected, and in fact discomfited, by its unblinking inventory of self-seeking and duplicity.
— Tobias Wolff, Old School, 2003

Synonyms

• bent [chiefly British]
• crooked
• deceptive
• dishonest
• double-dealing
• fast
• fraudulent
• guileful
• rogue
• shady
• sharp
• shifty
• underhand
• underhanded

Examples of duplicitous in a Sentence

warned her not to trust the duplicitous art dealer

Recent Examples on the Web

Vergennes has seen it all, and when Franklin settles with the British in a duplicitous last diplomatic pirouette, he is irked but not unduly. —Roger Cohen, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2024

Actor Hoa Xuande beautifully handles the difficult task of bringing to life the nameless Captain, the show’s duplicitous protagonist who’s an undercover double agent during the Vietnam War era. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

see duplicity

First Known Use

1928, in the meaning defined above

Legal Definition

duplicitous

adjective

du·​plic·​i·​tous dü-ˈpli-sə-təs, dyü- 

: marked by duplicity

a duplicitous indictment