dissembler

English

Etymology

A modification of earlier dissimuler (from Middle English dissimulour) after resemble and semblance; equivalent to dissemble + -er.

Noun

dissembler (plural dissemblers)

  1. Someone who dissembles.
    Synonyms: hypocrite, phony, pretender; see also Thesaurus:deceiver
    • c. 1635 (date written), Henry Wotton, “Of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex; and George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham: Some Observations by Way of Parallel in the Time of Their Estates of Favour”, in Reliquiæ Wottonianæ. Or, A Collection of Lives, Letters, Poems; [], London: [] Thomas Maxey, for R[ichard] Marriot, G[abriel] Bedel, and T[imothy] Garthwait, published 1651, →OCLC, page 23:
      [T]he Earl vvas the vvorſe Philoſopher, being a great Reſenter and a vveak Diſſembler of the leaſt diſgrace: []
    • 2021 October 26, Peter Baker, “The Case Against Winston Churchill”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
      [Winston] Churchill, in this telling, was not just a racist but a hypocrite, a dissembler, a narcissist, an opportunist, an imperialist, a drunk, a strategic bungler, a tax dodger, a neglectful father, a credit-hogging author, a terrible judge of character and, most of all, a masterful mythmaker.
      (Can we archive this URL?)

Translations

French

Etymology

From dis- + sembler.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /di.sɑ̃.ble/
  • (file)

Verb

dissembler

  1. (transitive, rare) to differ, to be unlike

Conjugation

Further reading

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