dissemble

/dəˈsɛmbəl/

Other forms: dissembled; dissembles

To dissemble is to try to deceive someone. Your little brother tried to dissemble when you asked if he ate the last doughnut, but the chocolate icing on his face gave him away.

Dissemble is a little more complicated than a straight lie or denial. When you dissemble, you disguise your true intentions or feelings behind a false appearance. To dissemble is to pretend that you don't know something, to pretend that you think one way when you act another way. "He worked for six months at that company before they discovered he was dissembling: he had lied on his application about his credentials and education."

Definitions of dissemble

1. verb

   behave unnaturally or affectedly
   synonyms: act, pretend

   act, behave, do

   behave in a certain manner; show a certain behavior; conduct or comport oneself

   types:

   assume, feign, sham, simulate

   make a pretence of

   play

   pretend to be somebody in the framework of a game or playful activity

   feint

   deceive by a mock action
2. verb

   make believe with the intent to deceive
   synonyms: affect, feign, pretend, sham

   make, make believe, pretend

   represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like

   types:

   play possum

   to pretend to be dead

   take a dive

   pretend to be knocked out, as of a boxer

   bull, fake, talk through one's hat

   speak insincerely or without regard for facts or truths

   mouth

   articulate silently; form words with the lips only

   lip-sync, lip-synch

   move the lips in synchronization (with recorded speech or song)

   type of:

   belie, misrepresent

   represent falsely
3. verb

   hide under a false appearance
   synonyms: cloak, mask

   type of:

   disguise, mask

   make unrecognizable