hypocrisy
/hɪˈpɒkrɪsi
/noun (plural hypocrisies) [mass noun]
The practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case: his target was the hypocrisy of suburban life she was irritated to be accused of hypocrisy spokesmen unversed in the smoother hypocrisies of diplomacy...
- The way society views the whole drug scene is riddled with hypocrisy and double standards.
- However, as with the infant formula companies, the industry stands accused of hypocrisy.
- There is an important point to be made about so-called sexual hypocrisy in government.
Synonyms
sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, pietism, piousness, affected piety, affected superiority, false virtue, cant, humbug, pretence, posturing, speciousness, empty talk;
insincerity, falseness, falsity, deceptiveness, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, dishonesty, dissembling, dissimulation, duplicity, imposture, two-facedness, double-dealing
informal phoneyness
rare Pharisaism, Tartufferie
Origin
Middle English: from Old French ypocrisie, via ecclesiastical Latin, from Greek hupokrisis 'acting of a theatrical part', from hupokrinesthai 'play a part, pretend', from hupo 'under' + krinein 'decide, judge'.