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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in lying
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissembling
Noun
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So, perhaps the issue is the deception and not the expense.—
R. Eric Thomas,
Mercury News,
20 Sep. 2025 -
But with this shift comes a new era of digital deception.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
20 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Big Oil giant Shell accused Venture Global of deceit—not disruption—in a contract dispute.—
Jordan Blum,
Fortune,
25 Sep. 2025
-
In fact, an element of deceit might be lurking as well.—
Georgia Nicols,
Denver Post,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
And, of course, tensions ratcheted up a little bit over the weekend after authorities arrested a man pretending to be law enforcement outside of the venue.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
21 Sep. 2025
-
Jalen Hurts has made just enough plays with his arm, including a crucial deep pass to DeVonta Smith that helped seal the win over the Chiefs, but no one in Philly is pretending that winning while throwing for 150 yards or fewer is a perfect formula for another deep playoff run.—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
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
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
-
As many people have rightly remarked, the response to Kirk’s murder is emblematic of the current hypocrisy.—
Louis Menand,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
-
Luckily, Alex’s wife Laura has been secretly meeting with the townspeople since moving back to Tall Pines, slowly questions and making comments that reveal the hypocrisy and dangers of Evelyn’s tactics.—
Keith Langston,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
That included a skinny, brash, cocksure right-hander named Walker Buehler, who went from a first-round pick to assuming the mantle as the next one poised to break through.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
22 Sep. 2025
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Colorado should return to a TABOR surplus beyond 2027, assuming no dramatic shift in economic conditions.—
Nick Coltrain,
Denver Post,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
At Comedy Central, Colbert rose to prominence playing a slightly exaggerated version of Bill O’Reilly and other unapologetically mendacious Fox News pundits from the George W. Bush years.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
18 July 2025
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The true story reveals both how freedom of speech first came to be conceived of as a mechanism for truth, an antidote to falsehood, and the foundation of all liberty—and that, ironically, this new and powerful theory was itself a deliberately mendacious fiction.—
Fara Dabhoiwala,
Harpers Magazine,
4 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Dissembling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissembling. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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