hypocrisy
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
the act of saying you believe in certain good things but then doing the opposite.
the practice of engaging in the same behaviour for which one criticises others, or claiming to possess virtues that one's actions belie.
Simple“It was pure hypocrisy for the boss to complain about lateness when he was always late himself.”
In context“The politician's hypocrisy was exposed when journalists discovered he had been evading the very taxes he had publicly campaigned to increase.”
PitfallHe is a hypocrisy. He is a hypocrite.Use 'hypocrisy' for the concept or the action, but use 'hypocrite' to describe the person.
- 02 C1 Advanced
a specific example or case where someone has been insincere or used a double standard.
a particular instance or occurrence of hypocritical behaviour. Countable in this sense.
Simple“The report listed several hypocrisies in the company's environmental policy.”
In context“Critics were quick to point out the various hypocrisies inherent in the administration's new stance on international trade.”
From hypo- + Ancient Greek κρί(σις) (krí(sis)) + -isy. From Middle English ipocrisie, from Old French ypocrisie, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Ancient Greek ὑπόκρισις (hupókrisis, “answer, stage acting, pretense”), from ὑποκρίνομαι (hupokrínomai, “I answer (a fellow actor on stage), play a part, dissemble, feign”), from ὑπό (hupó, “under, equivalent of the modern "hypo-" prefix”) + the middle voice of κρίνω (krínō, “I separate, judge, decide”) + -isy. Displaced native Old English līċettung.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.