disingenuous

C2 Topic:Register & Style
US /ˌdɪs.ɪnˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.əs/
adj Freq #50335

Meanings

  1. 1
    adj

    Not ingenuous; not frank or open.

    I am not so vain as to think these Remarks free from faults, nor so disingenuous as not to confess them:.

  2. 2
    adj

    Assuming a pose of naïveté to make a point or for deception.

    But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 adj · not ingenuous; not frank or... uncandid
Word family
Derived forms disingenuouslydisingenuousness

Etymology

From dis- + ingenuous.

Topics

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