duplicity

Duplicity is the practice of intentionally misleading people, especially by saying different things to different people or acting in different ways at different times.

Close synonyms are deceit and deception. A more informal synonym is double-dealing (which can also be used as an adjective).

Duplicity can also refer to the quality of someone or something that misleads in this way or to an instance of deception.

People who are liars engage in duplicity. The word is based on the idea of presenting two or more different versions of oneself or of a situation. Fittingly, people who use duplicity are often accused of being two-faced or of “speaking out of both sides of their mouth.” This typically means that they say different things to different people (in other words, they lie) in order to serve their agenda.

In a legal context, duplicity is used in a more specific way to refer to the inclusion of two offenses in one charge, which in many places is a violation of the legal process (in which each offense should be counted separately).

Less commonly, duplicity can refer to the state or quality of having two elements or parts. This sense of duplicity does not have the same negative implication as the primary sense of the word.

The adjective form of duplicity is duplicitous.

Example: There is clearly no shame in his duplicity—he says one thing and then turns around and says the complete opposite, barely trying to conceal the lie.

The first records of the word duplicity come from the 1400s. It comes from the Late Latin word duplicitās, meaning “doubleness.” The beginning part du- means “two” and is the basis of words like duo, duplex, and duplicate.

Duplicity most commonly refers to a kind of two-facedness. It’s often used to refer to what someone is engaging in when they intentionally give different impressions to different people. One impression can be true and one a lie, or they can both be lies, but in any case the result is something that is not the full truth.

What are some other forms related to duplicity?

• duplicitous (adjective)

What are some synonyms for duplicity?

• double-dealing
• doublespeak
• deceit
• deception
• dishonesty
• artifice
• chicanery

What are some words that share a root or word element with duplicity? 

• duplex
• duplicate

What are some words that often get used in discussing duplicity?

• lying
• misleading
• hypocrisy
• politics
• scheme
• gain

Duplicity is somewhat formal. It is usually used negatively, often in the context of people intentionally trying to mislead people by saying different things at different times, such as in politics.

.@ChrisMurphyCT is right: The level of duplicity is mind-boggling. The challenge is to make the fraud clear to everyone. https://t.co/a8Fsrdmsr6

— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) May 5, 2017

This kind of duplicity is as predictable as a sunrise. And this is from a relatively responsible newspaper owner. Don't assume the large corporate chop shops will be any better. https://t.co/pn9354yZE4

— Nate Monroe (@NateMonroeTU) August 30, 2018

“Up until the mid-1970s, we really felt that we were still living under the guise of a single, absolute, created society—where there were known truths and known lies and there was no kind of duplicity or pluralism about the things we believed in.” – David Bowie, in 1999 #LikeWar pic.twitter.com/L6jmjxZasz

— Nils Gilman (@nils_gilman) October 8, 2018

Which of the following words is NOT a synonym of duplicity?

A. deception

B. doublethink

C. doublespeak

D. double-dealing