- pronunciation:
- hI
p
krIt
- features:
- Word History
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition: |
a person who pretends to be different or better than he or she really is. Someone who does not act according to his or her stated beliefs is a hypocrite.
We thought he was a hypocrite because he told us cheating was bad, even though he has cheated on several tests.- similar words:
- deceiver
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| derivations: |
hypocritical (adj.), hypocritically (adv.) |
Our word
hypocrite comes from an ancient Greek word that means "actor" or "pretender."