disingenuous

dis·in·gen·u·ous

D0272400 (dĭs′ĭn-jĕn′yo͞o-əs) adj. 1. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: "Increasingly, the question of immigration has become a disingenuous stalking-horse for race and racial hostility" (Tyler Stovall). 2. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf. 3. Usage Problem Unaware or uninformed; naive.

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dis′in·gen′u·ous·ly adv. dis′in·gen′u·ous·ness n. Usage Note: Disingenuous means "not ingenuous," that is, not innocent, naive, or guileless. As such it can refer to someone who is insincere or calculating, as in It is both insensitive and disingenuous for the White House to describe its aid package and the proposal to eliminate the federal payment as "tough love," or to someone who is pretending to be unsophisticated, as in "I don't have a clue about late Beethoven!" he said. The remark seemed disingenuous, coming from one of the world's foremost concert pianists. Both of these examples were accepted by 90 percent of the Usage Panel in our 2016 survey. As with many words containing prefixes that negate (dis-) or seem to negate (in-), speakers sometimes lose track of exactly what is being negated, and sometimes use disingenuous when ingenuous would be more appropriate, namely as a synonym for naive. This usage is considered an error by careful writers: in our 2016 survey, 87 percent of the Usage Panel disapproved of the phrase the disingenuous tourist who falls prey to stereotypical con artists.

disingenuous

(ˌdɪsɪnˈdʒɛnjʊəs) adjnot sincere; lacking candour ˌdisinˈgenuously adv ˌdisinˈgenuousness n

dis•in•gen•u•ous

(ˌdɪs ɪnˈdʒɛn yu əs)

adj. lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity; insincere. [1645–55] dis`in•gen′u•ous•ly, adv. dis`in•gen′u•ous•ness, n.

Thesaurus

Adj.

1.

disingenuous - not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness; "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the most disagreeable traits of his time"- David Cannadine; "a disingenuous excuse"artfulinsincere - lacking sincerity; "a charming but thoroughly insincere woman"; "their praise was extravagant and insincere"artless, ingenuous - characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; "an ingenuous admission of responsibility"

disingenuous

adjective dishonest, cunning, sly, designing, wily, insidious, feigned, artful, two-faced, shifty, deceitful, insincere, duplicitous, underhanded, guileful, uncandid his disingenuous claims of innocence

disingenuous

adjective1. Not being what one purports to be:ambidextrous, insincere, left-handed, mala fide.2. Marked by treachery or deceit:devious, duplicitous, guileful, indirect, lubricious, shifty, sneaky, underhand, underhanded.

Translations

falsopoco sincerosournoisfalsoinsincero