Meaning & use
duplicity
Last updated
UK/djuːˈplɪsəti/
US/duːˈplɪsəti/
Usage warning: this word is disapproving. It shows a negative opinion, so take care with who and what you use it about.
Meaning
noununcountableformaldisapproving
Dishonesty in which you say or act one way while secretly doing or believing another.
Grammar: Uncountable: accused of duplicity.
Patterns
- duplicity of someone
- duplicity in something
Her duplicity came out when the letters were found.
He was shocked by the duplicity of his partner.
Common combinations
- accuse of duplicity
- They accused him of duplicity.
- political duplicity
- Political duplicity ruined his career.
- act of duplicity
- Hiding the debt was an act of duplicity.
- charges of duplicity
- He denied charges of duplicity.
Synonyms and how they differ
- deceit
- Deceit is more general for any lying or trick.
- double-dealing
- Double-dealing is informal and stresses acting against someone's trust.
- hypocrisy
- Hypocrisy means pretending to have virtues you lack.
Opposites
Word family
- duplicitous adjective
- deceitful, saying one thing and doing another
- duplicitously adverb
- in a deceitful way
Commonly confused: duplicity or duplication?
duplicity vs duplication
Duplication means making a copy; duplicity means deceit.
Practice
The minister's ___ was exposed when his private emails showed he opposed the policy he publicly supported.
Choose one answer.
Duplicity is saying one thing and doing another. Complicity means taking part in wrongdoing, a tempting but different idea.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “duplicity”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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