as in to pretend
to take on a false or deceptive appearance
as an actress she had been trained to dissimulate, so she had no trouble hiding her true feelings offstage as well
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Recent Examples of dissimulate
The result is that Republican politicians dissimulate much more, and of course there is no comparable primary competition.
—
Tyler Cowen, Twin Cities, 5 July 2019
Tyler Cowen, Twin Cities, 5 July 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dissimulate
pretend
Verb
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Jen has been complaining to Zac that Whitney only pretends to be her friend on camera.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Vulture,
14 Mar. 2026
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The hypocrite pretends to be good because the hypocrite believes that society admires good and condemns wrong.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Dissimulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dissimulate. Accessed 18 Mar. 2026.
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