disguise
to change the appearance or guise of so as to conceal identity or mislead, as by means of deceptive garb: The king was disguised as a peasant.
to conceal or cover up the truth or actual character of by a counterfeit form or appearance; misrepresent: to disguise one's intentions.
that which disguises; something that serves or is intended for concealment of identity, character, or quality; a deceptive covering, condition, manner, etc.: Noble words can be the disguise of base intentions.
the makeup, mask, costume, or overall changed appearance of an entertainer: a clown's disguise.
the act of disguising: to speak without disguise.
the state of being disguised; masquerade: The gods appeared in disguise.
Origin of disguise
1Other words for disguise
Other words from disguise
- dis·guis·a·ble, adjective
- dis·guis·ed·ly, adverb
- dis·guis·ed·ness, noun
- dis·guis·er, noun
- dis·guise·ment, noun
- non·dis·guised, adjective
- pre·dis·guise, noun, verb (used with object), pre·dis·guised, pre·dis·guis·ing.
- un·dis·guis·a·ble, adjective
- un·dis·guised, adjective
- un·dis·guis·ed·ly, adverb
- well-dis·guised, adjective
Words Nearby disguise
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use disguise in a sentence
He mentioned on Football Night in America that losing Dak might be a “blessing in disguise.”
NFL Week 5 Upsets Were Overshadowed By Dak Prescott’s Awful Injury | Sara Ziegler (sara.ziegler@fivethirtyeight.com) | October 12, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThe historian Kim Phillips-Fein thinks this may be at least a small blessing in disguise.
A new normal of a mere 100 guests, to begin with, was not something many couples could have imagined, but is a change that they see as a blessing in disguise.
Coronavirus has made it easier for millennials to scale back the big fat Indian wedding | Manavi Kapur | September 18, 2020 | QuartzIn August, Logically helped alert Utah officials to the fact that an anti-sex-trafficking event was actually a QAnon march in disguise, leading to its permit being revoked.
In that sense, the reduced supply of khat — even without a formal ban — has been a blessing in disguise, says Somali anti-khat campaigner Abukar Awale, who is backing a petition to Somalia’s government that seeks to make the drug illegal.
And Pope Alexander VI had the painter Pinturicchio disguise his mistress as the Virgin Mary in one fresco.
Tumid and unstoppable, there is little that new wallpaper or re-poured driveways can do to disguise it.
Maybe, then, the Hathahate phenomenon is a blessing in disguise.
Roberts and the Republicans are trying to portray the independent as a Barack Obama supporter who is just a Democrat in disguise.
The Independents Who Could Tip the Senate in November | Linda Killian | October 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTRivers, it had emerged, had told them she was Ruth Madoff in disguise, and not to speak to her or approach her when she walked in.
Napoleon landed at Elba at an early hour in disguise, with a sergeant's company of marines.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellIt was a habit with him to disguise himself in ordinary clothing and then to go out and mingle with the common people.
Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. PikeIn short, I shall begin life all over again—as if I were a criminal in disguise instead of the sport of circumstances.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonBut then who is there that can bear so total a disguise as filth and untidiness spread over a woman?
Journal of a Voyage to Brazil | Maria GrahamIsn't that Squid Murphy over there in the corner, trying to disguise himself as a corner of that safe?
British Dictionary definitions for disguise
/ (dɪsˈɡaɪz) /
to modify the appearance or manner in order to conceal the identity of (oneself, someone, or something)
(tr) to misrepresent in order to obscure the actual nature or meaning: to disguise the facts
a mask, costume, or manner that disguises
the act of disguising or the state of being disguised
Origin of disguise
1Derived forms of disguise
- disguisable, adjective
- disguised, adjective
- disguisedly (dɪsˈɡaɪzɪdlɪ), adverb
- disguiser, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with disguise
see blessing in disguise.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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