disguise

B2 Topic:Clothing & Appearance

US /dɪsˈɡaɪz/ UK /dɪsˈɡaɪz/ See IPA manual

Freq #5595

Meanings

1

noun
Clothes, makeup, or other things used to change your appearance and hide who you are.

The spy wore a wig and glasses as a disguise.
2

verb
To change someone's or something's appearance in order to hide it.

She disguised herself as a waiter to get into the party.
3

verb
To hide something such as a feeling or fact.

He couldn't disguise his anger at the news.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · clothes, makeup, or other... camouflage

2 verb · to change someone's or... masquerade

More cloak garb guise hide mask pretense

Word family

Forms disguiseddisguisesdisguisingundisguised

Derived forms disguisabledisguisedlydisguiselessdisguisementdisguiserredisguiseundisguise

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

a blessing in disguise
Something that seems bad at first but turns out to have a good outcome.

Simplified etymology

Disguise was formed from guise, which came through French from a Germanic root meaning “characteristic, manner, or custom.” It first meant changing one’s customary style of dress, without necessarily concealing one’s identity, but soon developed its modern association with concealment.

Etymology

From Middle English disgisen, disguisen, borrowed from Old French desguiser (modern French déguiser), itself derived from des- (“dis-”) (from Latin dis-) + guise (“guise”) (from a Germanic source).

disgisen Middle English desguiser Old French dis- Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Clothing & Appearance

External links

# disguise

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /dɪsˈɡaɪz/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪsˈɡaɪz/
**Frequency rank:** 5595

## Meanings
1. Clothes, makeup, or other things used to change your appearance and hide who you are.
2. To change someone's or something's appearance in order to hide it.
3. To hide something such as a feeling or fact.

## Examples
- The spy wore a wig and glasses as a disguise.
- She disguised herself as a waiter to get into the party.
- He couldn't disguise his anger at the news.

## Synonyms
- camouflage
- cloak
- garb
- guise
- hide
- mask
- pretense

## Derived Forms
- disguisable
- disguisedly
- disguiseless
- disguisement
- disguiser
- redisguise
- undisguise

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: disgisen
- Root: desguiser
- Root: dis-

## Etymology
From Middle English disgisen, disguisen, borrowed from Old French desguiser (modern French déguiser), itself derived from des- (“dis-”) (from Latin dis-) + guise (“guise”) (from a Germanic source).

## AI Etymology
disguise comes from Middle English disgisen, disguisen, borrowed from Old French desguiser (modern French déguiser), itself derived from des- (“dis-”) (from Latin dis-) + guise (“guise”) (from a Germanic source). The historical chain includes Middle English disgisen, Old French desguiser, Latin dis-. Current senses include Clothes, makeup, or other things used to change your appearance and hide who you are and to change someone's or something's appearance in order to hide it. English relatives and later formations include disguisable, disguisedly, disguiseless.

## Topics
- Clothing & Appearance

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