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.

---

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

---

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

Earlier this week, Israel's football governing body accused Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimmson of "ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity" regarding comments he made about facing Israel.

From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026

The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council aid group, Jan Egeland, criticised on Thursday what he called the "hypocrisy" of countries demanding rights for Afghan women while cutting humanitarian assistance.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

The hypocrisy of not paying athletes exasperated jurists all the way to the Supreme Court, and the old cabal crumbled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026

Smith appearing on Fox News sparked reaction on social media, with some calling out what they said was hypocrisy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

As a young man, I marveled at the stupidity and hypocrisy of the mortal age.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

There are many prejudices exhibited in the story—some Hemingway’s own and some intended to reveal the characters’ hypocrisies and flaws.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Critics come in for harsher abuse, but Mr. Ireland spreads around his comical scorn about the vanities and hypocrisies of theater folk liberally.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026

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

From Slate ● May 9, 2025

And the scenes between Kim’s DHH and Ryan Eggold’s Marcus, the purely invented figure in the play, revel in the hilarious hypocrisies that Hwang impishly sends up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 2024

Back in high school, she was extremely vocal in pointing out hypocrisies in the curriculum, or inequalities in their disciplinary system—and nothing has really changed now that she’s a social ecology major at UC Irvine.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---