dissemble

v., -bled, -bling, -bles.

v.tr.

1. To disguise or conceal behind a false appearance. See synonyms at disguise.
2. To make a false show of; feign.

v.intr.
To disguise or conceal one's real nature, motives, or feelings behind a false appearance.

[Middle English dissemblen, from Old French dessembler, to be different : des-, dis- + sembler, to appear, seem; see semblable.]

dissemblance dis·sem'blance n.
dissembler dis·sem'bler n.
dissemblingly dis·sem'bling·ly adv.

(di-SEM-buhl)
verb tr., intr.
To hide true feelings, motives, or the facts.

Etymology
By alteration of Middle English dissimulen, from Latin dissimulare, from simulare, from similis (similar)

From The Devil's Dictionary: Dissemble, v.i. To put a clean shirt upon the character.

Usage
"So when should you be honest and when should you dissemble? 'You don't want to trick them and tell them later about the onions in the soup because they'll learn not to trust you,' advises Chambliss." — Barbara Rowley; 7 Rules For a Peaceful Home; Parenting (San Francisco); Dec 2001/Jan 2002.

---

While addressing Amnesty International's allegation that the US abuses terror suspects, President Bush aimed for "dissemble" but hit "disassemble" instead; the Chicago Sun-Times took a satirical poke at his mistake:

"[Bush said], 'It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on... people that were held in detention, people who hate America, people that have been trained in some instances to disassemble – that means not tell the truth.'
All well and good. But there is much else going on in the world. What new steps, for example, should President Bush take to force North Korea to dissemble its nuclear weapons?"

Link: Everybody wants to fly their own flag

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

verb

1. To change or modify so as to prevent recognition of the true identity or character of: camouflage, disguise, dissimulate, mask, masquerade. See show/hide.
2. To behave affectedly or insincerely or take on a false or misleading appearance of: act, counterfeit, fake, feign, play-act, pose, pretend, put on, sham, simulate. See honest/dishonest, true/false.

v

Definition: disguise, pretend
Antonyms: admit, allow

---

to hide under a false appearance; disguise

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

v.i.

To put a clean shirt upon the character.

    Let us dissemble.
                                                                  Adam

---

IN BRIEF: To hide by pretending something different.

Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, But — why did you kick me down stairs? — John Philip Kemble (1757-1823), English actor, company manager, from The Panel. Act i. Sc. 1.

Dissemble

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - skjule, foregive
v. intr. - forstille sig, hykle

Nederlands (Dutch)
veinzen, huichelen, verhullen

Français (French)
v. tr. - dissimuler, feindre, simuler
v. intr. - masquer sa pensée, agir avec dissimulation

Deutsch (German)
v. - sich verstellen, vortäuschen, verbergen

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - συγκαλύπτω, υποκρίνομαι, προσποιούμαι

Italiano (Italian)
fingere

Português (Portuguese)
v. - simular

Русский (Russian)
скрывать, изображать, лицемерить

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - disimular, simular, ocultar, hacer caso omiso
v. intr. - simular, ocultar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - maskera, hyckla

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
掩饰, 假装, 隐藏真心

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 掩飾, 假裝
v. intr. - 隱藏真心

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 감추다, 가장하다
v. intr. - 진실을 숨기다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 隠す, 本心を隠す, しらばくれる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يرائي, ينافق, يخفي ( بقصد الخداع) مشاعره أو أفكاره الحقيقيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮הסווה‬
v. intr. - ‮העמיד פנים‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.