as in fake
not being or expressing what one appears to be or express
it's hypocritical to say mean things behind someone's back, and then to act nice when you want something from her
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Recent Examples of hypocritical
Eventually, Bree blasts the girl with a hypocritical, if technically correct, speech that sleeping with a middle-aged married man is gross and embarrassing and shouldn’t be talked about.
—
Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 14 Jan. 2026
And now, with several countries withdrawing from global governance, Jin thinks those lecturing China on being responsible are being hypocritical.
—Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2025
There’s greedy, ruthless, hypocritical Conkling, enriching himself by any means necessary.
—Judy Berman, Time, 28 Nov. 2025
That includes in particular, Don Rickles as an oily floor manager, Dick Smothers as a hypocritical politico, James Woods as a puke-ish parasite and, once again, Scorsese’s mother, Catherine Scorsese, as a take-no-guff, see-no-evil mama familias.
—Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 22 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hypocritical
Kathleen Walsh, Vulture, 14 Jan. 2026
And now, with several countries withdrawing from global governance, Jin thinks those lecturing China on being responsible are being hypocritical.
—Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 14 Dec. 2025
There’s greedy, ruthless, hypocritical Conkling, enriching himself by any means necessary.
—Judy Berman, Time, 28 Nov. 2025
That includes in particular, Don Rickles as an oily floor manager, Dick Smothers as a hypocritical politico, James Woods as a puke-ish parasite and, once again, Scorsese’s mother, Catherine Scorsese, as a take-no-guff, see-no-evil mama familias.
—Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 22 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hypocritical
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hypocritical
Adjective
-
The agency allegedly used Bank of America accounts to lure young women with fake modeling offers, while financial records suggest the bank was aware of these suspicious connections, according to plaintiff’s claims.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Some guests got very into it—one adopted a fake British accent for the duration.—
Rachel Syme,
New Yorker,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Haaland scored from the spot to secure City’s first victory in front of supporters at Anfield since 2003 and their first league double over Liverpool since 1936-37.—
James Pearce,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The top two seeds for the eight-team conference tournament receive double-byes into the semifinals, a significant advantage in a league that typically sends only its tournament champ to the 68-team NCAA Tournament.—
Oc Register,
Oc Register,
8 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
So, wins were not a meaningless line on the stat sheet in King Félix’s heyday — but the voters in this election seemed to have a different take.—
Jayson Stark,
New York Times,
10 Feb. 2026
-
But for current and past dog parents, that sentiment is far from meaningless.—
Anna Halkidis,
Parents,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Unlike body composition metrics, BMI obscures the true extent of metabolic dysfunction and cannot distinguish between muscle and fat — or between superficial fat and the visceral fat that drives diabetes, heart disease and other chronic conditions.—
Bret Scher,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Feb. 2026
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After he was taken into custody, he was found to be bleeding from his hand and had several superficial cuts on his stomach.—
Patrick Damp,
CBS News,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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On the opposite end of the spectrum, Tatianna points to cinnamon as a conductor of heat—one commonly used in lip plumper products to achieve a sultry pout.—
Essence,
Essence,
23 Nov. 2025
-
The pop of color offers a shimmer-free (rare!) means of warming up a wedding look and works equally well at lip level.—
Calin Van Paris,
Vogue,
12 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Which is not to say that Amodei is being insincere.—
Jeremy Kahn,
Fortune,
27 Jan. 2026
-
Then again, Friday’s show was a reminder that much of Rascal Flatts’ output can get overly glossy and insincere, so maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing after all.—
Ross Raihala,
Twin Cities,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
As Derya and Aziz’s hypocrisies, as upper-class intellectuals, are increasingly brought to the fore, Namal and Biçer’s conversational performances grow haggard and strained.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
13 Feb. 2026
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Gregg Phillips, an associate administrator at FEMA, said at a hearing this week that its disaster relief fund has sufficient balances to continue emergency response activities during a shutdown, but would become seriously strained in the event of a catastrophic disaster.—
Mary Clare Jalonick,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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If the split happens in the middle of the tree trunk, what's left looks hollow and shredded, resembling an explosion.—
Tammie Souza,
CBS News,
7 Feb. 2026
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These are alt-sodas sweetened with monk fruit, which has a hollow sweetness that leaves my tongue itchy.—
Alex Beggs,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hypocritical.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hypocritical. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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