disingenuous — meaning ‘insincere, having secret motives’, is the opposite of ingenuous meaning ‘innocent, honest’, and is applied to people and their actions: • The somewhat disingenuous slogan of ‘ban the bomb’ Harold Macmillan, 1971 • I should be… … Modern English usage
disingenuous — I adjective artful, artificial, conscienceless, counterfeit, crafty, cunning, deceitful, deceiving, deceptive, delusive, delusory, designing, devious, dishonest, dodging, evasive, false, false hearted, feigned, fraudulent, hypocritical, insidious … Law dictionary
disingenuous — lacking in candor, 1650s, from DIS (Cf. dis ) opposite of + INGENUOUS (Cf. ingenuous). Related: Disingenuously; disingenuousness … Etymology dictionary
disingenuous — [adj] insincere artful, crooked, cunning, deceitful, designing, dishonest, duplicitous, false, feigned, foxy, guileful, indirect, insidious, mendacious, oblique, shifty*, sly, tricky, two faced*, uncandid, underhanded, unfair, unfrank, wily;… … New thesaurus
disingenuous — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ not candid or sincere, especially in feigning ignorance. DERIVATIVES disingenuously adverb disingenuousness noun … English terms dictionary
disingenuous — [dis΄in jen′yo͞o əs] adj. 1. not straightforward; not candid or frank; insincere 2. slyly deceptive or misleading, typically by means of a pretense of ignorance or unawareness disingenuously adv. disingenuousness n … English World dictionary
disingenuous — [[t]dɪ̱sɪnʤe̱njuəs[/t]] ADJ GRADED: oft it v link ADJ to inf Someone who is disingenuous is slightly dishonest and insincere in what they say. [FORMAL] It is certainly an interesting colour, but it would be disingenuous to claim that this is a… … English dictionary
disingenuous — disingenuously, adv. disingenuousness, n. /dis in jen yooh euhs/, adj. lacking in frankness, candor, or sincerity; falsely or hypocritically ingenuous; insincere: Her excuse was rather disingenuous. [1645 55; DIS 1 + INGENUOUS] * * * … Universalium
disingenuous — adjective /ˌdɪs.ɪn.ˈdʒɛn.ju.əs/ a) Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy; fake or deceptive. I am not so vain as to think these Remarks free from faults, nor so disingenuous as not to confess them: b) Not ingenuous; not… … Wiktionary
disingenuous — dis|in|gen|u|ous [ˌdısınˈdʒenjuəs] adj formal not sincere and slightly dishonest ≠ ↑ingenuous ▪ Keeping the details of the tax changes vague is disingenuous. >disingenuously adv … Dictionary of contemporary English
