as in fake
not being or expressing what one appears to be or express
it's hypocritical to say mean things behind someone's back, and then to act nice when you want something from her
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Recent Examples of hypocritical
Democrats, who have routinely fought for stricter gun laws, flatly called the Republican stance on Pretti’s gun hypocritical in interviews with The Star.
—
Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 27 Jan. 2026
For a man of grandeur spouting the imperativeness of German propagation, such a condition would have been a bad and hypocritical look.
—Rosemary Counter, Vanity Fair, 19 Jan. 2026
Eventually, Bree blasts the girl with a hypocritical, if technically correct, speech that sleeping with a middle-aged married man is gross and embarrassing and shouldn’t be talked about.
—Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 14 Jan. 2026
And now, with several countries withdrawing from global governance, Jin thinks those lecturing China on being responsible are being hypocritical.
—Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hypocritical
Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 27 Jan. 2026
For a man of grandeur spouting the imperativeness of German propagation, such a condition would have been a bad and hypocritical look.
—Rosemary Counter, Vanity Fair, 19 Jan. 2026
Eventually, Bree blasts the girl with a hypocritical, if technically correct, speech that sleeping with a middle-aged married man is gross and embarrassing and shouldn’t be talked about.
—Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 14 Jan. 2026
And now, with several countries withdrawing from global governance, Jin thinks those lecturing China on being responsible are being hypocritical.
—Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hypocritical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hypocritical
Adjective
-
The agency allegedly used Bank of America accounts to lure young women with fake modeling offers, while financial records suggest the bank was aware of these suspicious connections, according to plaintiff’s claims.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Some guests got very into it—one adopted a fake British accent for the duration.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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In another twist late Saturday night, the Canadian women's team was accused by match officials of the same double-touch violation, this time by veteran skip Rachel Homan in the first end against Switzerland.—
STEVE DOUGLAS,
Arkansas Online,
15 Feb. 2026
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The home crowd favorite is coming back from tearing her ACL and suffering a double leg break in April of last year, only returning to competition last month ahead of the Olympics.—
Sean Nevin,
NBC news,
15 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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So, wins were not a meaningless line on the stat sheet in King Félix’s heyday — but the voters in this election seemed to have a different take.—
Jayson Stark,
New York Times,
10 Feb. 2026
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But for current and past dog parents, that sentiment is far from meaningless.—
Anna Halkidis,
Parents,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The same can be said of Schneeberger and Neibaur’s volume, a read that, like its subject, exhibits a breezy superficial charm before giving way to genuine depth and multiple rewards.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
10 Feb. 2026
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But Sonnet 130 may very well be the most popular for its testament to genuine love as opposed to superficial infatuation.—
David McGrath,
Chicago Tribune,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tatianna points to cinnamon as a conductor of heat—one commonly used in lip plumper products to achieve a sultry pout.—
Essence,
Essence,
23 Nov. 2025
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The pop of color offers a shimmer-free (rare!) means of warming up a wedding look and works equally well at lip level.—
Calin Van Paris,
Vogue,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Which is not to say that Amodei is being insincere.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
27 Jan. 2026
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Then again, Friday’s show was a reminder that much of Rascal Flatts’ output can get overly glossy and insincere, so maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing after all.—
Ross Raihala,
Twin Cities,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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As Derya and Aziz’s hypocrisies, as upper-class intellectuals, are increasingly brought to the fore, Namal and Biçer’s conversational performances grow haggard and strained.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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Gregg Phillips, an associate administrator at FEMA, said at a hearing this week that its disaster relief fund has sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities during a shutdown, but would become seriously strained in the event of a catastrophic disaster.—
Mary Clare Jalonick,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The individual beads are large hollow spheres containing okra seeds.—
TRAVIS LOLLER,
Arkansas Online,
16 Feb. 2026
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The individual beads are large hollow spheres containing okra seeds.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
15 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hypocritical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hypocritical. Accessed 18 Feb. 2026.
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