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• guise
  guise

  noun

  general external appearance; aspect; semblance.
• Guise
  Guise

  noun

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

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)

guises, present (3rd person singular) guised, past participle, past guising present participle

1. to dress; attire.

   children guised as cowboys.

verb (used without object)

guises, present (3rd person singular) guised, past participle, past guising present participle

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

Synonym Usage

See appearance.

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• guising
  present
• guised
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• guise
  simple
• guises
  simple
• have guised
  perfect
• has guised
  perfect
• am guising
  progressive
• are guising
  progressive
• is guising
  progressive
• have been guising
  perfect progressive
• has been guising
  perfect progressive

Past

• guised
  simple
• had guised
  perfect
• was guising
  progressive
• were guising
  progressive
• had been guising
  perfect progressive

Future

• will guise
  simple
• will have guised
  perfect
• will be guising
  progressive
• will have been guising
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of guise

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

Explanation

The noun guise refers to an outward appearance that conceals the true nature of someone or something. Your classmate might chat with you under the guise of friendship, but you know she's really just looking for juicy gossip. No doubt you’ve noticed the similarity between guise and disguise. Both involve the art of deception: it’s the methods that differ. Guise is about trying on new attitudes and mannerisms, such as speaking and acting in the guise of a native in a place where you are actually a tourist. Disguise involves hiding your real identity, disappearing in the new role.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

guise Guise guises guised guising

I came clean and told Pop the whole story, selling it under the guise of patriotism — and with three-part harmony and a harmonica.

From Salon ● Jul. 3, 2026

Some countries in the region are welcoming the military taking on a more civilian guise, said Nicholas Coppel, a former Australian ambassador to Myanmar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026

"We're striking that balance between making sure that any bad actors that...try to come into the country under the guise of the World Cup will not get access to the United States," he added.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

What it meant was that the 1-0 win - Harry Kane the goalscorer again - came from effectively a glorified training session carried out under the guise of international football.

From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026

We should have made it a period ball, not the hotch-potch of humanity it was bound to be, with Giles, poor fellow, well-meaning and hearty in his guise of Arabian sheik.

From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier

“He used bed slats and table legs. He scraped glue from the bottom of bits of furniture around the camp,” said Kimberly Guise, a senior curator at the museum.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023

Anastasia Guise, a resident of Billen Cliffs Village - a rural community in northern New South Wales state some 800 km distant from Sydney - has tapped Jagun for help.

From Reuters ● Sep. 12, 2023

They include Guise, a luminous fabric made partly from chenille yarns, and Forest, an intensely colorful wall covering based on his installation “Architectural Forest.”

From New York Times ● Jan. 16, 2023

France was divided between two major factions, led by the fanatically Catholic Guise family and the Huguenot Bourbon family.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2020

With him, then, you may be called upon to deal; but Villequier, I think, knows the hand of a Guise too well to call down a blow from it unnecessarily.

From Henry of Guise; (Vol. II of 3) or, The States of Blois by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)

Invasive species came in all guises: foreign pestilence, foreign capital, and the developers.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

In its many guises, idolatry has survived, despite regular and often cataclysmic proof of its dangers, for centuries and many people will consider a much-larger-than-life golden statue of a president to be perfectly splendid.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

The average tariff rate remains above 6% - around three times the typical rate at the start of 2025 - because of tariffs imposed under different guises.

From BBC ● Feb. 20, 2026

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 ● Jan. 26, 2026

"The work I do does not permit me to travel the streets amid a column of knights. So when I leave the castle, I adopt more suitable guises, and thus live to serve you longer."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

You may believe you deserve your family’s love only when you are acting in ways they support, but real love should never be guised as fear or control.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2023

But for all the circusy bravado of the opening montage, this movie is neither trickle-down treat nor bacchanal guised as bromide, but rather an interrogation of an era defined by an obsession with wealth.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2018

Corden approached the subject guised as a recap of the awards show.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2017

It showed an excruciatingly ill-at-ease Mr. Segel guised as Wallace circa the mid-’90s — in granny glasses and a bandanna — wearing an expression that seemed to say, “I shouldn’t be here at all.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 22, 2015

Abbe Maury did not pull; but the Charcoalmen brought a mummer guised like him, so he had to pull in effigy.

From The French Revolution by Carlyle, Thomas

She recalls giving out 70 trick or treat bags to children out guising within half an hour one year.

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2024

In Scotland and other parts of Britain, the practice of "guising," putting on a small performance in exchange for a sweet treat or change, has been a Halloween tradition since the 16th century.

From Salon ● Oct. 23, 2021

The announcement of the guidance follows comments by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Thursday, who said it was "not safe" for guising to be allowed this year, due to Covid-19.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2020

In guidance issued a week ahead of 31 October, people have been told guising and parties are not encouraged.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2020

Lord Grimsby was trying to recall if ever he had heard of the devil guising himself as a young red-headed girl, covering himself, from horned head to cloven hoof, in azure velvet.

From Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 6, July 1905 by Various

Related Words

• disguise