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

“Dead Man” takes aim at hypocritical strong men who grandstand on a pulpit.

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Today we have something close to that but more hypocritical.

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It sounds extremely hypocritical because I write a Substack devoted to online shopping, but I find scrolling for hours on end a soulless experience.

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The piece argues that Republicans are being hypocritical given their attacks on “cancel culture” and “wokeism”—they cannot simultaneously claim that deplatforming is oppressive while refusing to condemn actual Nazis.

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“It’s hypocritical of Democratic leaders who refuse to endorse him. It definitely will affect my vote,” she said.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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