dissemble
To conceal one's true motives, feelings, or beliefs.
Dissemble focuses on hiding your real emotions or thoughts behind a false front. It is a passive-aggressive form of deception where you pretend to feel one way (e.g., happy for a rival) while feeling another (furious).
Word relationships
- dissimulate: Dissimulate is almost identical but is even more formal and specifically emphasizes hiding what is true, whereas dissemble can also imply pretending what is not true.
- mask: Mask is a more common, everyday word that lacks the literary weight and connotation of deep cunning that dissemble carries.
- reveal: To reveal is to make known or show one's true feelings or secrets openly.
- manifest: To manifest is to display or show a quality or feeling clearly through one's acts or appearance.
Commonly confused with
- disassemble: Disassemble means to take something apart physically (like a machine), while dissemble means to hide your feelings.
Word family
- dissembler (noun): A person who professes beliefs or opinions that they do not hold; a hypocrite.
Collocations
- unable to dissemble
- dissemble one's feelings
- dissemble one's true motives
Idioms & expressions
- put on a brave face
- keep your cards close to your chest
Example sentences
- "In the presence of the king, the duke had to dissemble his ambition, pretending to be a humble servant while plotting a coup." An ambitious courtier navigating a dangerous royal court.
- "She could not dissemble her disappointment when her junior colleague was awarded the promotion she had worked years to achieve." A modern corporate setting where someone hides their disappointment.
Memory hook
Think of 'dis-assemble'. You are taking apart your real face and putting on a fake one to hide your feelings. Taking apart your true face to hide what you really feel.
When not to use
Do not use when someone is actively telling a spoken lie; dissembling is more about emotional and behavioral masking.
Fun facts
- The word was heavily used in Elizabethan drama, where characters like Shakespeare's Richard III openly bragged about their ability to dissemble.
Related words
Explore more words
disingenuous, subterfuge, duplicitous, equivocate, seethe, pretext
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