Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Marked by deliberate deceptiveness; deceitful, hypocritical, or two-faced: Describes a person who says one thing but means or does another, often to mislead or betray others. The term implies a forked or split tongue, symbolizing the act of speaking from both sides.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • The politician's double-tongued promises angered the voters who had trusted him. (The politician's deceitful promises angered the voters.)
  • Be careful of double-tongued colleagues who agree with you in person but criticize you behind your back. (Be careful of two-faced colleagues.)
  • The spy was known for being double-tongued, feeding false information to both sides. (The spy was known for being deceitful.)

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The term is often used in literary or formal contexts to describe profound moral duplicity. It is stronger than simply being dishonest; it implies a sustained pattern of deception where one's words are consistently at odds with one's true intentions or actions.
• It can describe not just individuals but also the nature of statements, promises, or rhetoric that are inherently misleading.

Variants and Related Words

• Double-dealing (adj/n): Engaging in deceitful or treacherous behavior.
  • He was accused of double-dealing in the business negotiation.
• Two-faced (adj): Insincere and deceitful.
  • Her two-faced nature made it hard to trust her.
• Duplicitous (adj): Deceitful in speech or conduct.
  • The duplicitous scheme was eventually uncovered.

Synonyms

• Deceitful: Guilty of or involving deception.
• Hypocritical: Behaving in a way that suggests one has higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case.
• Perfidious: Deceitful and untrustworthy (more formal/literary).
• Janus-faced: Deceitful, two-faced (from the Roman god Janus, who had two faces).

Related Phrases and Idioms

• To speak with a forked tongue: To lie or say something deliberately misleading. This idiom is closely related in meaning to "double-tongued."
  • The community felt the corporation was speaking with a forked tongue about its environmental commitments.
• To be two-faced: To be insincere and deceitful. This is a more common, colloquial equivalent.
  • I thought she was my friend, but she's completely two-faced.

Adjective

1. marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another
   • she was a deceitful scheming little thing- Israel Zangwill
   • a double-dealing double agent
   • a double-faced infernal traitor and schemer- W.M.Thackeray