Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who ... exemplified ... the most disagreeable traits of his time” ( David Cannadine).
- adj. Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf.
- adj. Usage Problem Unaware or uninformed; naive.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Not ingenuous; not open, frank, or candid; uncandid; insincere: as, a disingenuous person; a disingenuous answer.
Wiktionary
- adj. Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy; fake or deceptive.
- adj. Not ingenuous; not frank or open; uncandid; unworthily or meanly artful.
- adj. Assuming a pose of naivete to make a point or for deception.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Not noble; unbecoming true honor or dignity; mean; unworthy.
- adj. Not ingenuous; wanting in noble candor or frankness; not frank or open; uncandid; unworthily or meanly artful.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness
Etymologies
- dis- + ingenuous (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The entire process is intellectually disingenuous from the outset.”
The Huffington Post: Michael Brenner: HuffPost Review: Obama's Wars
“I think, Josh, it's plain disingenuous to call COLAs "raises.”
“Maybe he needs to find a dictionary and look up the word disingenuous next.”
“That said, the word disingenuous comes to mind when Cube starts waxing poetic about the tragedy of inner-city violence.”
“This, I am afraid, can only be described as disingenuous and stupid.”
The Huffington Post: Ian Fletcher: The Disappointing Economics of Rick Santorum
“That opponent would be characterized as the disingenuous candidate who, if elected, would continue politics-as-usual despite the words he spoke.”
“For her to cry about not being able to have guests is just plain disingenuous.”
Sound Politics: Help this woman move out of the governor's mansion
“In each case and many more, language itself is attacked, exploited, degraded and debased by those motivated to cloak a disingenuous agenda.”
“Tory 'it gets better' video called 'disingenuous' MP who appears in video once said homosexuality was a sin The Canadian Press Posted: Oct 28, 2011 9:29 AM ET Last Updated: Oct 28, 2011 9:33 AM ET Note:CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external links.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘disingenuous’.
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This is not a list
you know that thing where the Eskimos have 50 words for snow?
little white lie, big lie, the Big Lie, economical with t..., muddy the waters, fabrication, deception, lies, damned lies..., façade, slander, omission, web of lies and 159 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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250 Further Spelling Words
Another compilation of spelling words suitable for intermediate to advanced spellers.
venturi, aesir, affenpinscher, rottweiler, amanuensis, balletomane, hansard, sangfroid, yukata, capriccio, cuisse, heriot and 237 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2053 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 503 more...
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Philosophic , etymology
every major discipline has uniquely developed esoteric nomenclature to facilitate interdisciplinary dissemination
quale , qualia, elegy, tacet, lexicon, annunciate, caste, eros, contrive, purlicue, irony, venacular, dilapidate and 569 more...
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Pants on fire
Synonyms and euphemisms for lie, liar, or lying.
disingenuous, equivocator, fabricator, fibber, maligner, prevaricator, hypocrite, mendacity, mendacious, fabulist, pantelones encend..., pinocchio and 16 more...
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Spellings
sandbox, hypocrisy, medicine, torture, succinct, Martyr, hypocrite =saying..., on-cue as if plan..., egregious, smitten by god, revel =Get great ..., disingenuous and 1 more...
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try to use now and then
exacerbate, inveterate, obviate, verbose, exasperate, disingenuous, squit, ingenue, Opiate, opioid, revile, decrepit and 14 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for disingenuous.
kingparton 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 Nov 27, 2011