Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating.
  • adjective Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf.
  • adjective Usage Problem Unaware or uninformed; naive.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not ingenuous; not open, frank, or candid; uncandid; insincere: as, a disingenuous person; a disingenuous answer.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy.
  • adjective Not ingenuous; wanting in noble candor or frankness; not frank or open; uncandid; unworthily or meanly artful.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy; fake or deceptive.
  • adjective Not ingenuous; not frank or open; uncandid; unworthily or meanly artful.
  • adjective Assuming a pose of naivete to make a point or for deception.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

dis- +‎ ingenuous

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Examples

Comments

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  • The symbol that stands out too sharply from its matrix may distract the reader's eye from the fictional dream with the unpleasant effect of making the writer seem frigid and his story disingenuous.

    John Garnder, Notes on the Fictional Process

    November 28, 2011