1
as in deception
the inclination or practice of misleading others through lies or trickery
a crafty child given to frequent dissembling to get what she wants
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Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in deceit
the pretending of having virtues, principles, or beliefs that one in fact does not have
in the end the preacher's smarmy dissembling is discovered, and he is exposed as a fraud
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in lying
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
1
as in pretending
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
2
as in dissimulating
to take on a false or deceptive appearance
children learn to dissemble at a surprisingly early age
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Recent Examples of dissembling
Alison Willmore, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
Noun
His inner self is right there and raw at the surface, leaving him incapable of dissembling, which is why Lancaster Dodd likes him so much.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 25 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissembling
Noun
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Named one of the 10 Best Books of 2025 by The New York Times, Angel Down follows Private Cyril Bagger, who has managed to survive the unspeakable horrors of WWI through his wits and deception, swindling fellow soldiers at every opportunity.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
26 Jan. 2026
-
The drama about power, deception, and the complex bond between father and son is set in 1930s New York as international financier Gregor Antonescu’s empire faces collapse.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
26 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But Prosecutor Ben Ladinig argued any grains of authenticity in Haobsh's life were far outweighed by deceit.—
Natalie Morales,
CBS News,
27 Jan. 2026
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These are just some of the most prominent, powerful bootlickers stumbling right now on their own deceit and desperation.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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He was found dead lying face up on his hotel bed with no signs of trauma, according to a Monday report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.—
Kenan Draughorne,
Los Angeles Times,
14 Jan. 2022
Verb
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Parents reported that their children loved playing with the original Nékojita FuFu, pretending to fan their faces and blow-dry their hair.—
Sujita Sinha,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Jan. 2026
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How naïve must Trump be to believe that Putin cares about Ukraine’s well-being after invading it, killing thousands of its people, kidnapping tens of thousands of Ukrainian children back to Russia, and continuing to bomb civilian apartment buildings while pretending to negotiate a peace deal?—
Tom Zirpoli,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Of course, the retort is that this would be irritating and exasperating to be continually deluged with alerts about AI deceptiveness.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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But even at a progressive institution like Antioch, Coretta encountered the quiet betrayal of liberal hypocrisy.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Jan. 2026
-
As has become tradition for Jon Stewart‘s Monday evening hosting stints for The Daily Show, the political comic had to work hard to detangle all the webs of hypocrisy exemplified by the right wing — this time, in relation to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti at the hands of federal agents.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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In the dry California hills, an intentional community tries to build a pyre for one of its own, and, in the complex and mendacious aftermath, may end up sort of burning down the nation-state.—
Helen Shaw,
New Yorker,
14 Dec. 2025
-
To claim the opposite rings hollow at best, if not mendacious.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Shifting the Storytelling Strategy Danielle Krischik, author of The Story Effect, notes that assuming storytelling is just a performance skill is limiting.—
Malana VanTyler,
USA Today,
27 Jan. 2026
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The biggest mistake investors make is assuming that patience means inactivity.—
Jim Osman,
Forbes.com,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dissembling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissembling. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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