duplicity

[doo-plis-i-tee, dyoo-]

noun

plural

duplicities 

1. deceitfulness in speech or conduct, as by speaking or acting in two different ways to different people concerning the same matter; double-dealing.

   Synonyms: trickery, hypocrisy, guile, fraud, dissimulation, deception, deceit
   Antonyms: straightforwardness, honesty, directness, candidness

2. an act or instance of such deceitfulness.

3. Law.,  the act or fact of including two or more offenses in one count, or charge, as part of an indictment, thus violating the requirement that each count contain only a single offense.

4. the state or quality of having two elements or parts; being twofold or double.

duplicity

/ djuːˈplɪsɪtɪ /

noun

1. deception; double-dealing

Other Word Forms

• nonduplicity noun
• duplicitous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of duplicity¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English duplicite, from Middle French duplicitė́, from Late Latin duplicitāt-, stem of duplicitās “doubleness”; duplex, -ity

Word History and Origins

Origin of duplicity¹

C15: from Old French duplicite, from Late Latin duplicitās a being double, from Latin _duplex

Synonym Study

Duplicity, deceit, guile, hypocrisy, fraud, trickery refer either to practices designed to mislead or to the qualities that produce those practices. Duplicity is the form of deceitfulness that leads one to give two impressions, either or both of which may be false: the duplicity of a spy working for two governments. Deceit is the quality that prompts intentional concealment or perversion of truth for the purpose of misleading: honest and without deceit. The quality of guile leads to craftiness in the use of deceit: using guile and trickery to attain one's ends. Hypocrisy is the pretense of possessing qualities of sincerity, goodness, devotion, etc.: It was sheer hypocrisy for him to go to church. Fraud refers usually to the practice of subtle deceit or duplicity by which one may derive benefit at another's expense: an advertiser convicted of fraud. Trickery is the quality that leads to the use of tricks and habitual deception: notorious for his trickery in business deals.

Example Sentences

Earlier this week, Ross wrote on X that he "did not enjoy the duplicity" as the game progressed.

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The truth hovers tantalizingly out of focus, and the characters’ duplicity becomes its adversary.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For many onlookers, this seeming contradiction - of asking for aid with one hand while conducting military strikes with the other - chimes with Min Aung Hlaing's history of duplicity.

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It’s harder for audiences to approach spousal duplicity with a shrug when thousands of lives are at stake.

Read more on Salon

But his duplicity has been abundantly exposed during this trial, and he has clearly lost the right to be believed by his daughter.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• artifice 
• chicanery 
• deceit 
• dishonesty 
• falsehood 
• hypocrisy 

When To Use

What does duplicity mean?

Duplicity is the practice of intentionally misleading people, especially by saying different things to different people or acting in different ways at different times.Close synonyms are deceit and deception. A more informal synonym is double-dealing (which can also be used as an adjective).Duplicity can also refer to the quality of someone or something that misleads in this way or to an instance of deception.People who are liars engage in duplicity. The word is based on the idea of presenting two or more different versions of oneself or of a situation. Fittingly, people who use duplicity are often accused of being two-faced or of “speaking out of both sides of their mouth.” This typically means that they say different things to different people (in other words, they lie) in order to serve their agenda.In a legal context, duplicity is used in a more specific way to refer to the inclusion of two offenses in one charge, which in many places is a violation of the legal process (in which each offense should be counted separately).Less commonly, duplicity can refer to the state or quality of having two elements or parts. This sense of duplicity does not have the same negative implication as the primary sense of the word.The adjective form of duplicity is duplicitous.Example: There is clearly no shame in his duplicity—he says one thing and then turns around and says the complete opposite, barely trying to conceal the lie.