Hypocrisy

How to spell hypocrisy

9 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce hypocrisy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does hypocrisy mean?

1. nounThe practice of claiming to hold standards or beliefs that one's own behaviour contradicts.

Hypocrisy in a sentence

• Voters accused the minister of hypocrisy after he raised the very taxes he had condemned.

• There is a clear hypocrisy in lecturing staff about punctuality while arriving late every day.

Where does hypocrisy come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word travels back to the Greek hypokrisis, which originally meant 'acting on a stage' or 'playing a part'. It was built from the verb hypokrinesthai, literally 'to answer from under', combining hypo meaning 'under' with krinein meaning 'to judge, decide, or separate'. In the world of Greek theatre a hypokrites was simply an actor, someone delivering speeches in reply, but the sense slid toward pretending to be what one is not. The word passed through Latin and Old French before reaching English in the 1200s, often spelled 'ypocrisie' in early religious writing, where it meant feigning virtue or piety. The very same krinein root sits inside 'critic' and 'crisis', and remembering the hidden 'cri' (krisis) spelling, plus the single 's', is the surest guard against misspelling it.

How the word is built

• hypo- (under)
• krisis (a deciding, acting a part, from krinein 'to judge/decide')
• -y (noun)