Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Deceitful, hypocritical: Describes a person who says one thing but believes or does another, often pretending to have feelings or opinions they do not truly hold.
   • Having two contrasting aspects or characters: Literally having two faces, often used metaphorically to describe duplicity.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:
  • I don't trust him; he's two-faced and tells different stories to different people.
  • Her two-faced behavior was revealed when she agreed with me but then criticized my idea to our boss.

Advanced Usage

• "to be two-faced": To habitually act in a deceitful or hypocritical manner.
  • You can't rely on someone who is known to be two-faced.

Variants and Related Words

• Double-dealing (adj/n): Involved in or characterized by deceitful behavior.
  • He was accused of double-dealing in the negotiations.
• Duplicitous (adj): Deceitful, involving duplicity.
  • The spy led a duplicitous life.
• Hypocritical (adj): Behaving in a way that suggests one has higher standards or more noble beliefs than is the case.
  • It was hypocritical of him to preach about honesty while lying.

Synonyms

• Deceitful: Guilty of or involving deceit; deceiving or misleading others.
• Insincere: Not expressing genuine feelings.
• False: Not according with truth or fact; incorrect, or deliberately meant to deceive.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• To speak with a forked tongue: To lie or say things that are not true, similar in meaning to being two-faced.
  • Be careful negotiating with them; they are known to speak with a forked tongue.
• To wear two hats: To have two different roles or jobs. (Note: This idiom is about roles, not deceit, and is included here to contrast with the deceptive nature of "two-faced").
  • In our small company, the manager often has to wear two hats.

Adjective

1. having two faces--one looking to the future and one to the past
   • Janus the two-faced god
2. 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