Standard Lemma guide

duplicity

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /duˈplɪ.sɪ.ti/
  • /dju-/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D UW0 P L IH1 S IH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Intentional deceptiveness; double-dealing.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The quality of being double or twofold.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

acting in bad faith; deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: double-dealing

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: deception, deceit, dissembling, dissimulation

4

noun

Meaning 4

a fraudulent or duplicitous representation

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: fraudulence

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: misrepresentation, deceit, deception

History

Etymology

From Latin duplicare (double). Equivalent to duplex + -ity.

Across languages

Translations

28 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: двойственост (dvojstvenost) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Bulgarian: двуличие (dvuličie) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Catalan: duplicitat — intentional deceptiveness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 表裡不一 /表里不一 (biǎolǐbùyī) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Chinese Mandarin: 口是心非 (kǒushìxīnfēi) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Dutch: dubbelspel — intentional deceptiveness
  • Dutch: dubbelhartigheid — intentional deceptiveness
  • Dutch: huichelarij — intentional deceptiveness
  • Finnish: kaksinaamaisuus — intentional deceptiveness
  • French: duplicité — intentional deceptiveness
  • French: double jeu — intentional deceptiveness
  • German: Doppelspiel — intentional deceptiveness
  • German: Doppelzüngigkeit — intentional deceptiveness
  • German: Duplizität — intentional deceptiveness
  • Greek: διπροσωπία (diprosopía) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Italian: doppiezza — intentional deceptiveness
  • Japanese: 二枚舌 (nimaijita) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Japanese: 二心 — intentional deceptiveness
  • Kazakh: екіжүзділік (ekıjüzdılık) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Māori: raurekatanga — intentional deceptiveness
  • Polish: dwulicowość — intentional deceptiveness
  • Portuguese: duplicidade — intentional deceptiveness
  • Russian: двули́чность (dvulíčnostʹ) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Russian: двули́чие (dvulíčije) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Russian: дво́йственность (dvójstvennostʹ) — intentional deceptiveness
  • Spanish: duplicidad — intentional deceptiveness
  • Turkish: düzenbazlık — intentional deceptiveness
  • Turkish: ikiyüzlülük — intentional deceptiveness