disingenuous

Advancedzipf 2.95

Pronunciation

/ˌdɪsɪnˈdʒɛnjuəs/(dis-in-JEN-yoo-us)

Part of speech

adjectiveformal

Chinese

不真诚的；虚伪的（假装不知道或假装天真）

Definition

Not candid or sincere, typically by pretending to know less than one actually does.

Word family

  • disingenuously/ˌdɪsɪnˈdʒɛnjuəsli/(adv)虚伪地
  • disingenuousness/ˌdɪsɪnˈdʒɛnjuəsnəs/(n)

Collocations

  • disingenuous argument
  • disingenuous claim
  • somewhat disingenuous
  • deliberately disingenuous

Examples

  1. 1.It's disingenuous to claim you didn't know about the policy when you helped write it. (insincere)
  2. 2.His apology felt disingenuous — more about PR than genuine remorse. (not honest)

Synonyms

  • insincere/ˌɪnsɪnˈsɪə/— not genuine
  • dishonest/dɪsˈɒnɪst/— not truthful
  • duplicitous/djuːˈplɪsɪtəs/— deliberately deceptive

Etymology

dis- (not) + ingenuous (frank, naive) — not being frank