hypocritical

[hip-uh-krit-i-kuhl]

adjective

1. of the nature of hypocrisy, or pretense of having virtues, beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually possess.

   The parent who has a “do what I say and not what I do” attitude can appear hypocritical to a child.

2. possessing the characteristics of hypocrisy.

   Isn't a politician hypocritical for talking about human dignity while voting against reasonable social programs?

Other Word Forms

• hypocritically adverb
• unhypocritical adjective
• unhypocritically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of hypocritical¹

First recorded in 1515–25; equivalent to Greek hypokritik(ós) (from hypokritḗs “a stage actor” + -ikós -ic ( def. ) ) + -al ¹ ( def. ); hypocrite ( def. )

Example Sentences

Many people shared stories with me about their own hypocritical behavior.

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Her poems ranged from swampy oppressive memories of Florida to the nature of poetry to musings on hypocritical activists.

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“From his hair, to his sputter, to his strut, Penn makes a clown show out of hypocritical ultraconservative piety,” says Amy Nicholson.

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"You cannot be hypocritical in these matters, you've got to be consistent."

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"It's hypocritical for anybody to criticise a player that honours the contract because the player's got a job to do, play football," said Andrew.

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Related Words

• deceptive 
• duplicitous 
• false 
• insincere 
• sanctimonious 
• self-righteous 
• unnatural