THE WORDCRAFT DEFINITION DICTIONARY
hypocritical
adjective
Acting contrary to professed beliefs while presenting oneself as principled.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
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Examples in context
It was hypocritical to demand punctuality while arriving late to every meeting.
A club officer continued to profess support for open participation while reserving every desirable workshop place for his friends. Members called the conduct hypocritical because he presented himself as a defender of the principle he was disregarding.
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Related meanings
Related words can differ in tone and context; they are not always interchangeable.
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The hypocritical family
These forms are closely related, but their grammar and use are not identical. Expand a form to compare its meaning and examples.
hypocrisynoun
Claiming principles or standards that one's own behavior contradicts.
He recognized the hypocrisy of condemning delays while often arriving late.
The workshop's chair objected to the coordinator's hypocrisy: he had repeatedly praised transparency while concealing the conflicting promises.
About this entry
This entry is part of the vocabulary collection supplied by GlobalRPh. Definitions are concise study meanings. Examples combine original teaching sentences with selected passages adapted from the supplied study notes; their source is labeled beside each example. A word may have additional specialized or historical senses.
Adapted from supplied vocabulary notes. Example written for WordCraft.
Source study sections: 10, 17.
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