noun
duplicity
doo-PLIH-sih-tee
noun
1
Deliberate deceitfulness, especially by saying different things to different people.
"The negotiations collapsed once his duplicity was exposed."
"She was shocked by the sheer duplicity of her business partner."
How to Use Duplicity
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishDishonest, two-faced behaviour — pretending to be sincere while actually deceiving people.
Common pairings
accuse someone of duplicity
expose duplicity
Word Forms
duplicities plural
Study it as flashcards or scroll it in Flow — saved to your collection.
Test yourself on “duplicity”
A quick quiz — meaning, synonyms & usage
→
Fill the Gap
Can you complete this real example?
The negotiations collapsed once his _____ was exposed.
Etymology
From Latin duplicare, "to double," reflecting the idea of a person showing two contradictory faces.