SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
disingenuous
adjective
Not candid or sincere, especially while pretending to be straightforward.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Pretending to be candid
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topDisingenuous often describes feigned innocence or openness, rather than every kind of dishonesty.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See disingenuous in use
It was disingenuous to call the choice voluntary after every alternative was removed.
A colleague's response was more disingenuous; he claimed never to have heard about the deadline although Celia had shown him the reminder earlier that week and he had acknowledged it.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license