Janus-faced

[jey-nuhs-feyst]

adjective

1. having two faces, one looking forward, one looking backward, as the Roman deity Janus.

2. having two contrasting aspects, as the alternation of mood in a capricious person.

3. two-faced; deceitful.

4. aware of or concerned with polarities; seeing different and contrasting aspects.

   a Janus-faced view of history.

5. having or containing contrasting characteristics.

   a Janus-faced policy.

Janus-faced

adjective

1. two-faced; hypocritical; deceitful

Word History and Origins

Origin of Janus-faced¹

First recorded in 1675–85; Janus ( def. ) + faced ( def. )

Example Sentences

“The State cannot be allowed to take a Janus-faced position — wholeheartedly proffering David’s allegations of abuse on the State’s criminal proceedings, while disavowing or discrediting those same allegations in David’s civil action,” they wrote.

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It illuminates not just Lincoln's Janus-faced character, but the much broader story of humankind's complex relationship with the animal world.

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Janus-faced and ambivalent to tropes, Daphne’s narration is riddled with omissions and reversals that intensify the mystery of the broken window.

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He was one of America's most Janus-faced leaders, a protean figure who could sincerely shift from the pragmatic reformer to the vengeful autocrat without any apparent qualms.

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Our understanding of facts is thus Janus-faced: at one moment we regard them as things, reality itself; at the next they are true beliefs, statements about reality.

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