dissimulate

American  

[dih-sim-yuh-leyt] / dɪˈsɪm yəˌleɪt /

verb (used with object)

dissimulated, dissimulating

1. to disguise or conceal under a false appearance; dissemble.

   to dissimulate one's true feelings about a rival.

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verb (used without object)

dissimulated, dissimulating

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

dissimulate British  

/ dɪˈsɪmjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. to conceal (one's real feelings) by pretence

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Other Word Forms

• dissimulation noun
• dissimulative adjective
• dissimulator noun

Etymology

Origin of dissimulate

First recorded in 1525–35, dissimulate is from the Latin word dissimulātus (past participle of dissimulāre to feign). See dis- ¹, simulate

Explanation

Your wife gave you socks for Christmas and you smiled happily and kissed her? You, my friend, know how to dissimulate — that is, cover up your true feelings. Unless you happen to really, really like socks. Sometimes confused with dissimilar, meaning "not alike", or "different," or a form of simulate, meaning "to pretend to do or feel something." Being able to dissimulate is a useful trick, not just if your wife gives you socks. After all, the whole political process depends on it. As Louis XI once said, "He who knows not how to dissimulate, can not reign." Wikipedia would probably agree with that.

Example Sentences

But the Gift’s double-sided sword–ness also justifies the regime’s turning of Wakanda into an encrypted nation, a nation projecting a simulated self in order to dissimulate.

From Slate • Feb. 20, 2018

Aspirants to public office in the US may well dissimulate, but in a wide-open cultural landscape, with only the occasional ironic outcropping, there's hardly anywhere for them to hide.

From BBC • Jan. 4, 2013

He knew how to dissimulate his intentions so well that the Orsini themselves, through Lord Paulo, reconciled themselves with him.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

But Miss Robinson was hard put to it to dissimulate her deeper interest in the announcement.

From An Engagement of Convenience A Novel by Zangwill, Louis

Aunt Harriet was evidently more acutely undecided than usual which cup to fill first, and was rattling them in the way that always irritated Aunt Maria, though she made heroic efforts to dissimulate it.

From Notwithstanding by Cholmondeley, Mary