hypocritical
adj/hɪpəˈkɹɪtɪkəl/
Etymology From hypocritic + -al, from Ancient Greek ὑποκριτικός (hupokritikós), from ὑποκριτής (hupokritḗs, “actor, hypocrite”), from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “I play a part on stage”), from ὑπό (hupó, “below”) + κρίνω (krínō, “I choose”).
1
Characterized by hypocrisy or being a hypocrite.
- Near-synonyms: double-faced, two-faced, Janus-faced, duplicitous (these denote intentional deception)
- The British Empire was in a somewhat-hypocritical position when it came to slavery. Due to the fact that most other nations were at war with the Empire and the Royal Navy controlled the seas, most slavers were flying British flags. However, slavery in England had been banned hundreds of years before, in 1102, with periodic court cases reaffirming this through the centuries.2018 December 1, Drachinifel, 1:33 from the start, in Anti-Slavery Patrols - The West Africa Squadron, archived from the original on 29 Nov 2024:
1 more example
- [Stephen] Miller’s uncle, a neuroscientist, has been welcomed onto the public stage for his denunciations of his nephew’s immigration policies, which the elder Miller has characterized as hypocritical: the Millers’ not-so-distant Jewish ancestors were, of course, immigrants themselves.2019 July 15, Greg Afinogenov, “The Jewish Case for Open Borders”, in Jewish Currents, number Summer 2019:
- Derived terms
- hypocriticality, hypocritically, hypocriticalness, nonhypocritical, superhypocritical, unhypocritical