Ja·nus-faced

(jā′nəs-fāst′)

adj.

Hypocritical.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Janus-faced

adj

two-faced; hypocritical; deceitful

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Ja′nus-faced`

adj.

two-faced; deceitful.

[1675–85]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	Janus-faced - having or concerned with polarities or contrasts; "a Janus-faced view of history"; "a Janus-faced policy" bipolar - having two poles
	2.	Janus-faced - marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another; "she was a deceitful scheming little thing"- Israel Zangwill; "a double-dealing double agent"; "a double-faced infernal traitor and schemer"- W.M.Thackeray double-dealing, double-tongued, duplicitous, two-faced, double-faced, ambidextrous, deceitful dishonest, dishonorable - deceptive or fraudulent; disposed to cheat or defraud or deceive
	3.	Janus-faced - having two faces--one looking to the future and one to the past; "Janus the two-faced god" two-faced faced - having a face or facing especially of a specified kind or number; often used in combination; "a neatly faced terrace"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

A friend is Janus-faced; he looks to the past and the future.

View in context

''I have no doubt that the EU EOM's report is Janus-faced in giving room for complaisant sentiments from the poll gladiators.

EU Election Report: Straight From Janus

class="MsoNormalIn Africa, nationalism as a force has always had a Janus-faced character.

Will new nationalism end corruption and terror in africa?

On the Bangsamoro, PRRD has been Janus-faced: his campaign pitch was heavy on 'addressing historical injustice of the Bangsamoro.' Yet, less than a year into his presidency, he was quick to order the 'carpet bombing' of 26 barangays in downtown Marawi, and this lasted for five excruciating months.

Divining Duterte

I'm neither Janus nor a Janus-faced creature to see or know everything.

TEAM TECHIMAN, AYEKOO!!!!!

In fact, if anything, the further weakening of civil society in face of a janus-faced military is likely to build influence of the ideological right-wing as happened in Turkey's case.

Militarising Egypt

and Vincent each detail a particular domain wherein such Janus-faced structural contingencies take on intimate traction and disruptive force.

Afterword

In The Sex Offender Housing Dilemma, Monica Williams highlights one problem arising from the Janus-faced expectations of the criminal justice system.

Williams, Monica, The Sex Offender Housing Dilemma: Community Activism, Safety, and Social Justice

But these trends are Janus-faced. To understand why, one must recognize, first, that science is an ecosystem.

What is threatening science?

But these trends are Janus-faced. To understand why, one must recognise, first, that science is an ecosystem.

What is threatening science?

Meanwhile, Janus-faced America has conflicting agenda.

Clearing up the smoke on the South China Sea dispute

There is nothing Janus-faced about his interactions with the world.

What Trump wants from his visit to the UK