disingenuous
adjective
Simple meaning
Not straightforward or candid.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihsihnjehnyoouhsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪsɪnˈdʒɛnjuəs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness
“An ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the most disagreeable traits of his time"- David Cannadine.”
Not ingenuous; not frank or open.
Assuming a pose of naïveté to make a point or for deception.
Not honourable; unworthy of honour.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness
Used this way, disingenuous is a common word that can pull warm or cold depending on the sentence. It comes across as direct, sometimes bluntly so.
“An ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the most disagreeable traits of his time"- David Cannadine.”
- Emotional tone
- Mixed
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Direct, sometimes tactless
- Usage feel
- Blunt and forceful
Usage note
The same wording can read approvingly or critically, so the surrounding sentence has to make the intent clear.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use disingenuous
- “An ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who...exemplified...the most disagreeable traits of his time"- David Cannadine.”adjective
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Antonyms
Sense: not straightforward or candid
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.