Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that they do not actually possess: A hypocrite is someone whose actions contradict their stated beliefs or feelings. This is often done to deceive others, gain approval, or avoid criticism.
   • A person whose behavior contradicts their professed standards: The term emphasizes the gap between what a person says and what they do, typically involving insincerity or pretense.

Examples of Usage

• Noun:
  • He called the politician a hypocrite for preaching about family values while having numerous affairs.
  • She felt like a hypocrite for telling her children not to lie, even though she sometimes did.
  • "Do not be a hypocrite," the teacher said, "by criticizing others for the same mistakes you make."

Advanced Usage

• "To be a hypocrite": This is the standard phrase to describe someone engaging in hypocrisy.
  • It is hypocritical to demand honesty from others while being secretive yourself.
• "The height of hypocrisy": Used to describe an action or statement that is an extreme or blatant example of hypocrisy.
  • For the company to lecture on environmental protection while dumping toxic waste was the height of hypocrisy.

Variants and Related Words

• Hypocrisy (n): The practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.
  • The scandal revealed the hypocrisy of the organization's leadership.
• Hypocritical (adj): Behaving in a way that suggests one has higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case.
  • His hypocritical praise fooled no one.
• Hypocritically (adv): In a hypocritical manner.
  • She smiled hypocritically while planning her revenge.

Synonyms

• Phony (n): A person who is not genuine or sincere; a fake.
• Fraud (n): A person who makes deceitful pretenses.
• Charlatan (n): A person falsely claiming to have a special knowledge or skill; a quack.
• Dissembler (n): A person who conceals their true motives or feelings through pretense.

Related Phrases

• Practice what you preach: An idiom advising someone to act in accordance with the advice they give to others, the opposite of being a hypocrite.
  • If you want respect, you need to practice what you preach.
• Two-faced: (adj) Insincere and deceitful, behaving one way to a person's face and another way behind their back. This is a close conceptual synonym for hypocritical behavior.
  • I discovered my so-called friend was two-faced and couldn't be trusted.

Noun

1. a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives