hypocrite

ˈhi-pə-ˌkrit 3 syllables uncommon

  1. noun. a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion

    • … there are the hypocrites, who hurry to church on Sunday, but exhibit a whole spectrum of sins during the week.
    • The genuine hypocrite does or says one thing in public and another in private.

  2. noun. a person whose behavior contradicts their stated beliefs or feelings

Source

Origin

Middle English ypocrite, borrowed from Anglo-French ipocrite, borrowed from Late Latin hypocrita, borrowed from Greek hypokritḗs "answerer, actor on a stage, pretender," from hypokri-, variant stem of hypokrī́nomai, hypokrī́nesthai "to reply, make an answer, speak in dialogue, play a part on the stage, feign" + -tēs, agent suffix.

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2025