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disguise
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
disguise
I.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
thinly
▪ This was a thinly disguised device designed to give Harleston the opportunity to ease Jeffries out painlessly and to find a replacement.
▪ Hardly compatible with discretion, that I should ride to the Palace in so thinly disguised a vehicle.
▪ Mostly they turned out to be thinly disguised candidate ads, a violation of the spirit of the law at best.
▪ Both, however, were under external threat from barbarians more or less thinly disguised.
▪ No question, a lot of corporate take-overs are shams, thinly disguised.
■ NOUN
attempt
▪ The effect Jennifer had on him was so obvious that Ann was amazed he made no attempt to disguise it.
▪ He made no attempt to disguise his limp.
▪ Johnson makes no attempt to disguise the fact.
▪ Does Sanchez worry about attempts at disguised retaliation?
▪ He made no attempt to disguise it and sold the car to a firm of car dealers.
fact
▪ That impersonality is the essence of war and the Thiepval Memorial attempts to disguise that fact by pretending to commemorate persons.
▪ But this justifiable pleasure does not disguise the fact that much was left undone.
▪ Obviously the maid was disguised in view of the fact that we were known to be looking for two women travelling together.
▪ Clare moved on purposefully, as if it was necessary to disguise the fact that she had no money.
▪ But none of this could disguise the fact that the great nobles had substantial bodies of experienced soldiers at their disposal.
▪ Johnson makes no attempt to disguise the fact.
▪ The essential purpose was to disguise the fact that Dennis was an alcoholic.
▪ Using so many spices helped to disguise the fact that the food was often far from fresh.
■ VERB
try
▪ She didn't try to disguise the gap it left behind by drawing the other suits together.
▪ Kim said, trying his best to disguise his shock and fear at such a proposal.
▪ Indeed he had not tried to disguise in his Middle East diaries what he knew would happen to the soldiers.
▪ It was the kind of station, and nobody tried to disguise it, where self-respecting disc jockeys were never found.
▪ I thought it was you; you were trying to disguise your voice.
▪ She too had tried to disguise herself in kurta pajama, had pulled her hair back as I had done.
▪ He stood accused of trying to disguise a crude revenue-raising measure.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a blessing in disguise
▪ The loss of fertilizer proved to be a blessing in disguise. It forced us to use compost, which is better for the soil and crops.
▪ Again, one may be forced to the conclusion that his departure was a blessing in disguise for him.
▪ Be positive, this could be a blessing in disguise, use the time gained wisely.
▪ But in a way that time lag, though it could be frustrating, was also a blessing in disguise.
▪ Poor Jonas' death was a blessing in disguise, though one could wish it had happened differently.
▪ The crash was a blessing in disguise for Schwab.
▪ The great cattle freeze of the white winter had been, in retrospect, a blessing in disguise.
▪ The Labour defeat was a disaster, but it might be a blessing in disguise.
▪ Well, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.
thinly disguised/veiled
▪ Almost all his climbs have a certain something: a thinly disguised air of intimidation often allied to a raw brutality.
▪ Both, however, were under external threat from barbarians more or less thinly disguised.
▪ Dole passed up two thinly veiled invitations by moderator Jim Lehrer to address so-called character issues.
▪ Hardly compatible with discretion, that I should ride to the Palace in so thinly disguised a vehicle.
▪ I should hate to give the impression that my love for you is but thinly disguised lust.
▪ Mostly they turned out to be thinly disguised candidate ads, a violation of the spirit of the law at best.
▪ Mrs Thatcher's public speeches contained thinly veiled warning messages to colleagues who doubted the strategy.
▪ She was only thinly veiled, and Rostov could see that although she was beautiful, she was old.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ He spent several years in the monastery disguised as a monk.
▪ Larry couldn't disguise his satisfaction at seeing his competitor go out of business.
▪ She managed to get into the camp by disguising herself as a soldier.
▪ The FBI say the hijackers were very likely to have been disguised.
▪ The men had disguised the vessel as fishing boat to escape.
▪ The park's waterfalls disguise the traffic noise from the freeway.
▪ The robber was wearing a paper bag over his head to disguise his face.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And then the genie told him about the magician disguised as the holy woman.
▪ But what is striking now is that neither side seems bothered about disguising those differences.
▪ Dexter admired the way in which his boss disguised who she was really interested in.
▪ Do not disguise your intentions in order to achieve your own ends as doing this only feeds the negativity within you.
▪ Myriad receptions and reunions could not disguise the bleak prospects for job hunters.
▪ No amount of expensive television advertising can disguise that.
▪ Their Walkpersons are in actuality radar sensors cleverly disguised, I theorize.
▪ With horrible political insight they found a way to disguise the thing.
II.noun
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Friends gave us long robes and veils for disguise.
▪ The army does not officially admit that it uses disguises.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But it was a good disguise, he told himself.
▪ He went across in a variety of disguises, or sent emissaries, and negotiated the price.
▪ Inevitably though, these disguises inspired in readers a sense of vicarious danger or disgust.
▪ Luther was the devil in disguise.
▪ Morning comes, and Blue starts busying himself with another disguise.
▪ The crash was a blessing in disguise for Schwab.
▪ The major problem is that it is just another irresponsible tax cut in disguise that would mostly benefit rich folks like Forbes.
▪ The peddler in disguise showed Snow White her beautiful, colorful laces.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Disguise

Disguise \Dis*guise"\, n.

  1. A dress or exterior put on for purposes of concealment or of deception; as, persons doing unlawful acts in disguise are subject to heavy penalties.

    There is no passion which steals into the heart more imperceptibly and covers itself under more disguises, than pride.
    --Addison.

  2. Artificial language or manner assumed for deception; false appearance; counterfeit semblance or show.

    That eye which glances through all disguises.
    --D. Webster.

  3. Change of manner by drink; intoxication.
    --Shak.

  4. A masque or masquerade. [Obs.]

    Disguise was the old English word for a masque.
    --B. Jonson.

Disguise

Disguise \Dis*guise"\ (?; 232), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Disguised; p. pr. & vb. n. Disguising.] [OE. desguisen, disgisen, degisen, OF. desguisier, F. d['e]guiser; pref. des- (L. dis-) + guise. See Guise.]

  1. To change the guise or appearance of; especially, to conceal by an unusual dress, or one intended to mislead or deceive.

    Bunyan was forced to disguise himself as a wagoner.
    --Macaulay.

  2. To hide by a counterfeit appearance; to cloak by a false show; to mask; as, to disguise anger; to disguise one's sentiments, character, or intentions.

    All God's angels come to us disguised.
    --Lowell.

  3. To affect or change by liquor; to intoxicate.

    I have just left the right worshipful, and his myrmidons, about a sneaker of five gallons; the whole magistracy was pretty well disguised before I gave them the ship.
    --Spectator.

    Syn: To conceal; hide; mask; dissemble; dissimulate; feign; pretend; secrete. See Conceal.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
disguise

c.1300, from Old French desguiser (11c.) "disguise, change one's appearance," from des- "away, off" (see dis-) + guise "style, appearance" (see guise). Originally primarily "to put out of one's usual manner" (of dress, etc.). Oldest sense preserved in phrase disguised with liquor (1560s).It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are disguised by sobriety. [Thomas de Quincy, "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater," 1856]\nRelated: Disguised; disguising.

disguise

c.1400, "strange style of dress" (especially one meant to deceive), from disguise (v.).

Wiktionary
disguise

n. 1 attire (e.g. clothing, makeup) used to hide one's identity or assume another. 2 (context figuratively English) The appearance of something on the outside which masks what's beneath. 3 The act of disguising, notably as a ploy vb. 1 (context transitive English) To change the appearance of (a person or thing) so as to hide, or to assume an identity. 2 (context transitive English) To avoid giving away or revealing (something secret); to hide by a false appearance. 3 (context archaic English) To affect or change by liquor; to intoxicate.

Related phrases:
WordNet
disguise

  1. n. an outward semblance that misrepresents the true nature of something; "the theatrical notion of disguise is always associated with catastrophe in his stories" [syn: camouflage]

  2. any attire that modifies the appearance in order to conceal the wearer's identity

  3. the act of concealing the identity of something by modifying its appearance; "he is a master of disguise" [syn: camouflage]

  4. v. make unrecognizable; "The herb disguises the garlic taste"; "We disguised our faces before robbing the bank"

Wikipedia
Disguise

A disguise can be anything which conceals or changes a person's physical appearance, including a wig, glasses, makeup, costume or other items. Camouflage is a type of disguise for people, animals and objects. Hats, glasses, changes in hair style or wigs, plastic surgery, and make-up are also used.

Disguises can be used by criminals and secret agents seeking to avoid identification. A person working for an agency trying to get information might go 'undercover' to get information without being recognised by the public; a celebrity may go 'incognito' in order to avoid unwelcome press attention. In comic books and films, disguises are often used by superheroes, and in science fiction they may be used by aliens. Dressing up in costumes is a Halloween tradition.

Disguise (novel)

Disguise is a 2008 novel by the Irish writer Hugo Hamilton set in Germany.

Disguise (disambiguation)

A disguise is anything which conceals or changes a person's physical appearance.

'''Disguise ''' may also refer to:

  • Disguise (novel), a 2008 novel by Irish writer Hugo Hamilton
  • Disguises (Cauterize album), 2007
  • Disguises (Aiden album), 2011
  • Disguises (Robots in Disguise album)
  • "Disguises", a song by The Who from the 1966 EP Ready Steady Who
  • "Disguises", the B-side of " Funeral Pyre" by The Jam
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "disguise".

I, a law-abiding citizen, a humble bookseller, should now be descending the steps of a brothel in the middle of Alsatia, at nightfall, in disguise.

Behind him he had expected to see a horde of demons disguised as apes and panthers.

In nightmares and in prophecy Apollonius had seen him disguising himself as a crippled beggar during the day, so that no one would take undue notice of him, then changing shape in the dusk and stalking the Ephesians by night, a great monster half-wolf, half-man, a lycanthrope who reveled in the killings.

He and Izzy had decided that was the safest disguise for him, a mountain yokel on the far edges of Aramaic country.

An archenemy of mine once used it as a disguise in an attempt to deceive me.

The captain also stopped in front of Jacques Ardoise, who stared back, unable to disguise his fear.

And if the sudra hunter was just an Asura in disguise, how did he have the use of brahman?

Disguised as a Venetian nobleman, he proposed to sit for his portrait to that Antonella who first brought the secret from Flanders, and while Antonella worked with unsuspicious openness, Gian Bellini watched the process and stole the secret.

At the masked ball, he speaks in confidence to the disguised Claudio as though addressing Benedick, warning him that Don Pedro seems romantically interested in the young lady for himself.

Although he made no attempt to hide his connection to the ambassador, Bertillon was careful to disguise the nature of that connection.

One-eyed Bogan intended to shave and join the Army disguised as a lassie.

Now she understood that Halagar was Boolean in disguise and thus her true master.

Stop sounding like a brickie on a scaffold, Petro - I need to be disguised.

Nobody can disguise style, Brookie, and what happened at The Black Horse reeks of their style.

The pawnbroker had also sold him a limited but fairly effective disguise: gray hair, spectacles, mouth wadding, plastic buckteeth which subtly transfigured his lip line.