hypocrisy

American  

[hi-pok-ruh-see] / hɪˈpɒk rə si /

noun

hypocrisies plural

1. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.

2. a pretense of having some desirable or publicly approved attitude.

3. an act or instance of hypocrisy.

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hypocrisy British  

/ hɪˈpɒkrəsɪ /

noun

1. the practice of professing standards, beliefs, etc, contrary to one's real character or actual behaviour, esp the pretence of virtue and piety

2. an act or instance of this

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Synonym Usage

See duplicity.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hyperhypocrisy
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hypocrisies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hypocrisy

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English ipocrisie, from Old French, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Greek hypókrisis “play acting,” from hypokrī(nesthai)́ “to play a part, explain” (from hypo- hypo- + krī́nein “to distinguish, separate”) + -sis -sis

Explanation

People who tell you not to eat candy while they chomp away on licorice all day? People who say they hate cars but always beg you for a ride? They are engaging in hypocrisy, or behavior that is different from what they say they believe. A hypocrite is a person who practices hypocrisy: what they say is not what they do. The noun hypocrisy descends from the Greek hypokrisis "acting on a stage," from hypokrinesthai "to play a part, pretend," from the prefix hypo- "under" plus krinein "to judge." Many times kids are enraged by their parents' hypocrisy when parents make their children follow rules they don't follow themselves.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hypocrisy hypocrisies

But the DNA of the Barbary wars exists throughout American military history, a cocktail of entitlement, bravado and hypocrisy flavored with desperate violence.

From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2026

David Lindsay-Abaire’s “The Balusters” is a piquant comedy satirizing the hollowness and hypocrisy of well-to-do do-gooders on a neighborhood homeowners association board.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

She said last year she had turned down France's highest civilian honour, the legion d'honneur, accusing the country of "hypocrisy" over visa policies that prevented dissidents travelling from Iran to France.

From Barron's ● Jun. 4, 2026

He gets very enthusiastic about what if we look at that hypocrisy and just bulldoze over it.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

He brooded at length over what he perceived to be his father’s moral shortcomings, the hypocrisy of his parents' lifestyle, the tyranny of their conditional love.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

Through her fierce exposure of her ugly travails, Ms. Williams’s Anna seems to grow in stature and radiance—becoming a truth-teller who isn’t afraid to risk love, or life, to expose men’s hypocrisies and double standards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025

Twain was both a brilliant writer who exposed America’s hypocrisies with humor and wit, and an angry man who savored revenge, nursed grudges and blamed God for the blows fate rained down on his head.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025

He was also an enslaver, blind, as so many others, to his own hypocrisies.

From Slate ● May 9, 2025

You did have somebody like Mark Twain write really perceptively about the hypocrisies of that age.

From Salon ● Apr. 4, 2025

“Thanks. We’ll go peep,” Sean said, never one to sugarcoat his displeasure at the hypocrisies of high school nonsense.

From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan

Related Words

• bigotry
• deceit
• deception
• dishonesty
• duplicity
• fraud
• insincerity
• mockery