guise

¹ American  

[gahyz] / gaɪz /

noun

1. general external appearance; aspect; semblance.

   an old principle in a new guise.

   Synonyms:

   shape, form

2. assumed appearance or mere semblance.

   under the guise of friendship.

3. style of dress.

   in the guise of a shepherd.

4. Archaic. manner; mode.

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verb (used with object)

guised, guising

1. to dress; attire.

   children guised as cowboys.

verb (used without object)

guised, guising

1. Scot. and North England. to appear or go in disguise.

Guise ² American  

[geez] / giz /

noun

1. François de Lorraine 2nd Duc de, 1519–63, French general and statesman.

2. his son Henri I de Lorraine Duc de, 1550–88, French general and leader of opposition to the Huguenots.

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guise British  

/ ɡaɪz /

noun

1. semblance or pretence

   under the guise of friendship

2. external appearance in general

3. archaic manner or style of dress

4. obsolete customary behaviour or manner

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verb

1. dialect to disguise or be disguised in fancy dress

2. archaic (tr) to dress or dress up

Related Words

See appearance.

Etymology

Origin of guise

1175–1225; (noun) Middle English g ( u ) ise < Old French < Germanic; wise ²: (v.) Middle English gisen, derivative of the noun

Example Sentences

Here, Melville is an American Kafka or Gogol, and in this guise, he skewers our pervasive national ethos that values ambition and striving above all.

From The Wall Street Journal

Mawuli was sitting cross-legged in the corner, playing with a box of nails under the guise of selecting them for Togbe.

From Literature

"The world's still full of those confused little boys creating chaos in the world in the guise of men and hopefully this is a little microcosm of that which helps us understand that," he adds.

From BBC

Slater told no one of his plan, and traveled in the guise of a farmer.

From Barron's

What emerges from “Tradecraft” is not just the portrait of a master storyteller, but of a man driven by a relentless search for narrative truth in all its guises.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• disguise