dissemble

American  

[dih-sem-buhl] / dɪˈsɛm bəl /

verb (used with object)

• dissembles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dissembled,
  past participle,  past
• dissembling
  present participle

1. to give a false or misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or real nature of.

   to dissemble one's incompetence in business.

   Synonyms:

   dissimulate, disguise, camouflage, hide, mask

2. to put on the appearance of; feign.

   to dissemble innocence.

3. Obsolete. to let pass unnoticed; ignore.

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verb (used without object)

• dissembles,
  present (3rd person singular)
• dissembled,
  past participle,  past
• dissembling
  present participle

1. to conceal one's true motives, thoughts, etc., by some pretense; speak or act hypocritically.

dissemble British  

/ dɪˈsɛmbəl /

verb

1. to conceal (one's real motives, emotions, etc) by pretence

2. (tr) to pretend; simulate

3. obsolete to ignore

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• dissemblance
  noun
• dissembler
  noun
• dissembling
  noun
• undissembled
  adjective
• undissembling
  adjective
• well-dissembled
  adjective
• dissemblingly
  adverb
• undissemblingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• dissembling
  present
• dissembled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• dissemble
  simple
• dissembles
  simple
• have dissembled
  perfect
• has dissembled
  perfect
• am dissembling
  progressive
• are dissembling
  progressive
• is dissembling
  progressive
• have been dissembling
  perfect progressive
• has been dissembling
  perfect progressive

Past

• dissembled
  simple
• had dissembled
  perfect
• was dissembling
  progressive
• were dissembling
  progressive
• had been dissembling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will dissemble
  simple
• will have dissembled
  perfect
• will be dissembling
  progressive
• will have been dissembling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of dissemble

First recorded in 1490–1500; late Middle English dissemile, dissimill, alteration (by association with obsolete semblen, sembel “to bear a resemblance, appear to be”) of Middle English dissimulen “to assume a false appearance, be insincere,” from Old French dessembler, dissembler “to be unlike,” from Latin dissimulāre “to conceal the identity of, disguise”; see origin at dis- ¹, resemble, simulate

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Explanation

To dissemble is to try to deceive someone. Your little brother tried to dissemble when you asked if he ate the last doughnut, but the chocolate icing on his face gave him away. Dissemble is a little more complicated than a straight lie or denial. When you dissemble, you disguise your true intentions or feelings behind a false appearance. To dissemble is to pretend that you don't know something, to pretend that you think one way when you act another way. "He worked for six months at that company before they discovered he was dissembling: he had lied on his application about his credentials and education."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

dissemble dissembles dissembled dissembling

“This Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts,” Rufe wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026

But most of us had come to expect our leaders to duck, deal and dissemble until it would be too late.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2025

If the judge could configure his beliefs to get that 1985 promotion, Mr. Kennedy asked in a notation in his diary, how might he dissemble to clinch a lifetime appointment to the nation’s highest court?

From New York Times ● Oct. 24, 2022

They don't merely exaggerate, dissemble or put a biased spin on things.

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2021

To dissemble your feelings, to control your face, to do what everyone else was doing, was an instinctive reaction.

From "1984" by George Orwell

Evgeny dissembles: “Nothing. It is perhaps the fragrant scent of a passing track team.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

Looking at the tape of her statement, it is remarkable how smoothly she dissembles.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2019

It felt like a startlingly on-the-nose metaphor for the strange act of going about routine tasks while the world dissembles.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 3, 2017

Sure, she compromises, she sometimes dissembles and at times her judgment has been flawed.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2016

Well, well, and how she trembles and dissembles.

From The German Classics, v. 20 Masterpieces of German Literature by Various

And Mr. Bankman-Fried, who had testified during the trial in his own defense, had repeatedly dissembled and dodged questions, Mr. Roos said.

From New York Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

He was said to have dissembled when people on the call asked about whether repeat shop lifters or people who commit assaults without a weapon would be prosecuted and face jail terms.

From Fox News ● Jan. 20, 2022

Politicians have exaggerated and dissembled since time immemorial, including in their email dispatches.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2021

“I bent over backwards to try to work with the administration, but they delayed, dissembled, and degraded our committee’s efforts.”

From Washington Post ● Jun. 12, 2019

Morgan was angry, but dissembled, and with a show of cordiality invited the French captain and his officers to an entertainment on board his own ship.

From History of the Buccaneers of America by James Burney

Then, the dissembling from Burden’s husband, the declarations that it meant nothing, that he still loved her.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 31, 2026

This fits his dissembling about his reason for vetoing the tax-credit bill.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

“Family Plan,” starring Mark Wahlberg as the dissembling patriarch, plays it for laughs, using his deception and its unraveling as a springboard for screwball comedy.

From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2023

But altogether, the scope of his lying certainly seems to go beyond dishonesty or dissembling for monetary gain alone.

From Slate ● Nov. 28, 2023

“Ah well,” I said, dissembling, “perhaps I exaggerate. If they return we shall have a fine dowry for our daughter, and that is indeed a good thing.”

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya

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