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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
dissemble
verb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He sometimes has to dissemble in order to prevail on crucial issues.
▪ In assessing a recent downturn, they refuse to resort to the dissembling language of corporate reports and quarterly statements.
▪ Knowing him very well, I know that he would not rise just to dissemble.
▪ My friend proved that the cabbie was dissembling, and we trooped back to the terminal to look for Mr Right.
▪ She had, as far as he knew, no reason to be curious, and therefore no reason to dissemble her curiosity.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dissemble

Dissemble \Dis*sem"ble\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dissembled; p. pr. & vb. n. Dissembling.] [OF. dissembler to be dissimilar; pref. dis- (L. dis-) + F. sembler to seem, L. simulare to simulate; cf. L. dissimulare to dissemble. See Simulate, and cf. Dissimulate.]

  1. To hide under a false semblance or seeming; to feign (something) not to be what it really is; to put an untrue appearance upon; to disguise; to mask.

    Dissemble all your griefs and discontents.
    --Shak.

    Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, But -- why did you kick me down stairs?
    --J. P. Kemble.

  2. To put on the semblance of; to make pretense of; to simulate; to feign.

    He soon dissembled a sleep.
    --Tatler.

    Syn: To conceal; disguise; cloak; cover; equivocate. See Conceal.

Dissemble

Dissemble \Dis*sem"ble\, v. i. To conceal the real fact, motives, intention, or sentiments, under some pretense; to assume a false appearance; to act the hypocrite.

He that hateth dissembleth with his lips.
--Prov. xxvi. 24.

He [an enemy] dissembles when he assumes an air of friendship.
--C. J. Smith.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
dissemble

early 15c. (implied in dissemblable), apparently a variant of Middle English dissimule (influenced by Middle French dessembler or English resemble), late 14c., from Old French dissimuler, from Latin dissimulare (see dissimulation). Related: Dissembled; dissembling.

Wiktionary
dissemble

vb. 1 (context transitive English) To disguise or conceal something. 2 (context transitive English) To feign. 3 (context transitive English) To deliberately ignore something; to pretend not to notice. 4 (context intransitive English) To falsely hide one's opinions or feelings.

WordNet
dissemble
  1. v. make believe with the intent to deceive; "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache" [syn: feign, sham, pretend, affect]

  2. hide under a false appearance; "He masked his disappointment" [syn: cloak, mask]

  3. behave unnaturally or affectedly; "She's just acting" [syn: pretend, act]

Usage examples of "dissemble".

We might content ourselves with relating this extraordinary transaction, but we cannot dissemble how much in its present form it appears to us inconsistent and incredible.

The philosophic emperor dissembled his follies, lamented his early death, and cast a decent veil over his memory.

Midsummer-manifold, each one Voluminous, a labyrinth of life, They keep their greenest musings, and the dim dreams That haunt their leafier privacies, Dissembled, baffling the random gapeseed still With blank full-faces, or the innocent guile Of laughter flickering back from shine to shade, And disappearances of homing birds, And frolicsome freaks Of little boughs that frisk with little boughs.

I had been so long dissembling among patrons, I was awkward in vaunting my learning.

But the proud hope of eradicating the prejudices of a nation was speedily overturned by the invincible zeal of the Paulicians, who ceased to dissemble or refused to obey.

She dissembled her feelings and continued to caress me, while I was in a frenzy of rage.

We at least do not dissemble toward one another, but you play the part of ingénue, not only toward the entire commonalty, but even toward us who know quite well what to think of your pretension to moral superiority.

I began my task, dissembling my disgust for the wig, but a precious discovery caused me the most agreeable surprise.

I saw that this was not a laughing matter, so I dissembled to the best of my ability, and made up my mind to leave the place in five minutes' time.

Out of the country twinned and murderous in a spring of stars let the word bind the body to the wind of the senses bind the invisible nerve of the air bind and loose jess and unfetter the blank and awaiting country here in a season of hawks and O may the word upon word engender past fear and sleep may it ride limning the imagined life of the planets Gilean and Sirrion book and flame here at the Alchemist's Gate where the sound of our singing assembles, dissembles, weaving a veil over nothing.

When the despair of the Greek subjects invited Calo- John as their deliverer, they hoped that he would protect their liberty and adopt their laws: they were soon taught to compare the degrees of national ferocity, and to execrate the savage conqueror, who no longer dissembled his intention of dispeopling Thrace, of demolishing the cities, and of transplanting the inhabitants beyond the Danube.

When the despair of the Greek subjects invited Calo- John as their deliverer, they hoped that he would protect their liberty and adopt their laws: they were soon taught to compare the degrees of national ferocity, and to execrate the savage conqueror, who no longer dissembled his intention of dispeopling Thrace, of demolishing the cities, and of transplanting the inhabitants beyond the Danube.

It must not, however, be dissembled, that, in another passage, Chrysostom, to whom we are indebted for this useful information, computes the multitude of the faithful as even superior to that of the Jews and Pagans.

It must not, however, be dissembled, that, in another passage, Chrysostom, to whom we are indebted for this useful information, computes the multitude of the faithful as even superior to that of the Jews and Pagans.

The nations, who were strangers or enemies to Aetius, generously deplored the unworthy fate of a hero: the Barbarians, who had been attached to his service, dissembled their grief and resentment: and the public contempt, which had been so long entertained for Valentinian, was at once converted into deep and universal abhorrence.