SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
insincere
adjective
Expressing feelings or intentions that are not honestly held.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Not honestly meant
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topInsincere words do not match actual feelings; disingenuous often suggests deliberately hiding one's real knowledge or motives.
RELATED FORMS, ONE FEATURED ENTRY
The insincere family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
insinceritynoun
A lack of honesty or genuineness in expressed feelings or intentions.
Lack of genuineness
Closest synonyms
Related expressions
The narrator's exaggerated praise suggested insincerity to the reader.
In a fictional project diary, a photographer recorded a teammate's professed commitment to giving everyone equal credit. She later discovered insincerity in his friendly assurances when a private draft showed that he had never intended to include the others' names.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See insincere in use
The character's insincere apology fails because it avoids admitting the harm.
An insincere candidate for a student committee praised a project she privately intended to cancel, hoping its supporters would vote for her.
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