duplicity

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du·plic·i·ty

(do͞o-plĭs′ĭ-tē, dyo͞o-)

n. pl. du·plic·i·ties

a. Deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech.

b. An instance of deliberate deceptiveness; double-dealing.

2. The quality or state of being twofold or double.

[Middle English duplicite, from Old French, from Late Latin duplicitās, doubleness, from Latin duplex, duplic-, twofold; see dwo- in Indo-European roots.]

duplicity

(djuːˈplɪsɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

deception; double-dealing

[C15: from Old French duplicite, from Late Latin duplicitās a being double, from Latin duplex]

duˈplicitous adj

du•plic•i•ty

(duˈplɪs ɪ ti, dyu-)

n., pl. -ties.

1. deceitfulness in speech or conduct; double-dealing.

2. a twofold or double state or quality.

[1400–50; late Middle English duplicite < Middle French < Medieval Latin, Late Latin duplicitās; see duplex, -ity]

syn: See deceit.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	duplicity - a fraudulent or duplicitous representation fraudulence deception, misrepresentation, deceit - a misleading falsehood
	2.	duplicity - acting in bad faith; deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another double-dealing dissimulation, deception, dissembling, deceit - the act of deceiving

duplicity

noun deceit, fraud, deception, hypocrisy, dishonesty, guile, artifice, falsehood, double-dealing, chicanery, perfidy, dissimulation He was guilty of duplicity in his private dealings.
honesty, candour, straightforwardness

duplicity

noun

The act or practice of deceiving:

cunning, deceit, deceitfulness, deception, double-dealing, guile, shiftiness.

Translations

διπροσωπία

doppiezza

duplicity

[djuːˈplɪsɪtɪ] N (frm) → doblez f, duplicidad f

duplicity

[djuːˈplɪsɪti] n (= deceitfulness) → duplicité f, fausseté f

duplicity

n → Doppelspiel nt

duplicity

[djuːˈplɪsɪtɪ] n (frm) → doppiezza, duplicità

References in classic literature ?

He did not know, to be sure, that I had overheard his council from the apple barrel, and yet I had by this time taken such a horror of his cruelty, duplicity, and power that I could scarce conceal a shudder when he laid his hand upon my arm.

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She suddenly felt ashamed of her duplicity, but even more she dreaded how he might meet her.

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That was a feeble evasion, but Godfrey was not fond of lying, and, not being sufficiently aware that no sort of duplicity can long flourish without the help of vocal falsehoods, he was quite unprepared with invented motives.

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If I were not afraid of judging harshly, I should be almost tempted to say that there is a strong appearance of duplicity in all this.

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The marquise perceived, with sorrow rather than indignation, that the king was an accomplice in the plot which betrayed the duplicity of Louis XIII.

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She has a great charm; a little artificial, a little fatigued, with a little suggestion of hidden things in her life; but I have always been sensitive to the charm of fatigue, of duplicity.

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The bank had continued to take in money for a whole day after its failure was inevitable; and as many of its clients belonged to one or another of the ruling clans, Beaufort's duplicity seemed doubly cynical.

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he continued hurriedly, evidently no longer trying to show the advantages of peace and discuss its possibility, but only to prove his own rectitude and power and Alexander's errors and duplicity.

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Although her duplicity in the affair of the house had exceeded what he knew, and had really hindered the Plymdales from knowing of it, she had no consciousness that her action could rightly be called false.

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Achmet Zek would never permit the wealth that he had discovered to slip through his fingers, nor would he forgive the duplicity of a lieutenant who had gained possession of such a treasure without offering to share it with his chief.

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to those sounds which, in the pleasant mansions of that gate which seems to derive its name from a duplicity of tongues, issue from the mouths, and sometimes from the nostrils, of those fair river nymphs, ycleped of old the Naiades; in the vulgar tongue translated oyster-wenches; for when, instead of the antient libations of milk and honey and oil, the rich distillation from the juniper-berry, or, perhaps, from malt, hath, by the early devotion of their votaries, been poured forth in great abundance, should any daring tongue with unhallowed license prophane,

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This trick did not suggest duplicity or secretiveness, but merely long habit, as with the horse.