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

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

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

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

From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2021

This facility will soon mandate that all visitors be vaccinated, but my relative plans to dissemble in order to evade the requirement.

From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2021

I would remember to dissemble for short periods, then I would forget and act straight and human again, not with the desire to harm anybody, but merely forgetting the artificial status of race and class.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

Maradona, young and handsome, dissembles for a moment, before the president of the club, Corrado Ferlaino, steps in to reject the notion with full-throated anger.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 13, 2019

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

From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2019

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

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 5, 2016

Then he dissembles and talks of irrelevant topics transcendentally.

From Twenty-One Days in India; and, the Teapot Series by Aberigh-Mackay, George Robert

When a suspicious F.B.I. agent later interviewed him about the trip, Hua dissembled and said he was only visiting friends and family.

From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2023

As is evidently his habit, Walker dissembled, while throwing in some incomprehensible commentary.

From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2022

And then there was this showstopper: He dissembled about his own lie.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 25, 2022

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

Yes, Roman! now I see thee as thou art, Thy naked soul divested of its veil, Its specious colouring, its dissembled virtues: Thou hast plotted with the Senate to prevent Th' exchange of captives.

From The Inflexible Captive A Tragedy, in Five Acts by More, Hannah

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

His judgments were strict and fair, and none could sway him through falsehood or dissembling.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss