hypocritical

adjective

hyp·o·crit·i·cal | \ ˌhi-pə-ˈkri-ti-kəl

Definition of hypocritical

: characterized by behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel : characterized by hypocrisy said that it was hypocritical to demand respect from students without respecting them in return a hypocritical gesture of modesty and virtue— Robert Graves also : being a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings : being a hypocrite

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Examples of hypocritical in a Sentence

it's hypocritical to say mean things behind someone's back, and then to act nice when you want something from her

Recent Examples on the Web

Still, other protesters like Wolfgang, who declined to give his full name, contend that concerns over U.S.-U.K. trade may be hypocritical. — Anne Sraders, Fortune, "Post-Brexit Trade Relations With Trump's America Are a Concern in the U.K.," 6 June 2019 But any strategy to that end should also publicly call out Mexico for its hypocritical attempt to avoid the consequences of its own asylum policies. — Mark Krikorian, National Review, "Mexico Is an Asylum Free-Rider," 5 June 2019 Republicans in the House quickly dismissed the Democratic criticisms as hypocritical. — Andrew Duehren, WSJ, "House to Vote Tuesday on Resolution Terminating National Emergency," 22 Feb. 2019 This is just more hypocritical intolerance from those who oppose her husband’s administration. — Celeste Katz, Glamour, "Team Melania Trump: Congressional Candidate's 'Hoebag' Insults Are 'Despicable'," 1 Aug. 2018 For someone who believes in robots' right to freedom, this feels more than a little hypocritical. — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "'Westworld' *Finally* Showed Us Shogun World and Revealed That Maeve Is Basically God Now," 21 May 2018 Some view the company as hypocritical for burdening taxpayers with the lion’s share of the cleanup bill, given the family’s reputation as fiscal conservatives and critical of government spending. — Bradford Betz, Fox News, "Cleanups at Pence family's failed gas stations costing taxpayers millions: report," 14 July 2018 But some student victims of the mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., where 17 people were killed Feb. 14, criticized the policy as hypocritical. — Molly Hennessy-fiske, latimes.com, "No guns but plenty of protesters expected when Trump addresses NRA convention," 30 Apr. 2018 Second, Lake said, Republicans may be trying to appeal to late-deciding voters who care more about character than issues by painting their Democratic opponents as untrustworthy or hypocritical. — Anna North, Vox, "How Republicans are using the language of #MeToo against Democrats," 24 Oct. 2018

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