Adjacent Words

Dissemble definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISSEMBLE, v.t. [L.]
1. To hide under a false appearance; to conceal; to disguise; to pretend that not to be which really is; as, I will not dissemble the truth; I cannot dissemble my real sentiments. [This is the proper sense of this word.]
2. To pretend that to be which is not; to make a false appearance of. This is the sense of simulate.
Your son Lucentio doth love my daughter, and she loveth him, or both dissemble deeply their affections.
DISSEMBLE, v.i. To be hypocritical; to assume a false appearance; to conceal the real fact, motives, intention or sentiments under some pretense.
Ye have stolen and dissembled also. Josh 7.
He that hateth, dissembleth with his lips. Proverbs 26.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissemble]
2: hide under a false appearance; "He masked his disappointment" [syn: dissemble, cloak, mask]
3: behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting" [syn: dissemble, pretend, act]

Merriam Webster's

verb (dissembled; dissembling) Etymology: Middle English dissymblen, alteration of dissimulen, from Middle French dissimuler, from Latin dissimulare — more at dissimulate Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to hide under a false appearance 2. to put on the appearance of ; simulate intransitive verb to put on a false appearance ; conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense • dissembler noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 intr. conceal one's motives; talk or act hypocritically. 2 tr. a disguise or conceal (a feeling, intention, act, etc.). b simulate (dissembled grief in public). Derivatives: dissemblance n. dissembler n. dissemblingly adv. Etymology: ME, alt. after semblance of obs. dissimule f. OF dissimuler f. L dissimulare (as DIS-, SIMULATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dissemble Dis*sem"ble, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dissembled; p. pr. & vb. n. Dissembling.] [OF. dissembler to be dissimilar; pref. dis- (L. dis-) + F. sembler to seem, L. simulare to simulate; cf. L. dissimulare to dissemble. See Simulate, and cf. Dissimulate.] 1. To hide under a false semblance or seeming; to feign (something) not to be what it really is; to put an untrue appearance upon; to disguise; to mask. Dissemble all your griefs and discontents. --Shak. Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, But -- why did you kick me down stairs? --J. P. Kemble. 2. To put on the semblance of; to make pretense of; to simulate; to feign. He soon dissembled a sleep. --Tatler. Syn: To conceal; disguise; cloak; cover; equivocate. See Conceal.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dissemble Dis*sem"ble, v. i. To conceal the real fact, motives, ?tention, or sentiments, under some pretense; to assume a false appearance; to act the hypocrite. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips. --Prov. xxvi. 24. He [an enemy] dissembles when he assumes an air of friendship. --C. J. Smith.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dissembles, dissembling, dissembled) When people dissemble, they hide their real intentions or emotions. (LITERARY) Henry was not slow to dissemble when it served his purposes. VERB: V, also V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. Conceal, hide, disguise, cloak, cover. II. v. n. Conceal one's real purposes, disguise the feelings or character.