Great Word of the Day: Duplicitous

Twofold are the reasons duplicitous is next in this series.

Duplicitous

[ doo-plis-i-tuhs, dyoo- ]

This adjective means:

  1. marked or characterised by deceitfulness in speech or conduct;
  2. speaking or acting in two different ways to different people concerning the same matter.

Word Origin

In regular use today, this word originates ultimately from a noun of Latin origin, duplicitās (stem duplicitāt-), formed from the adjective duplex meaning twofold or double. Duplicitous entered English in the early 1890s.

How to use duplicitous

Rather, like his own duplicitous identity, Twain’s texts are double-voiced, both in form and in their equivocal stances toward freedom.

Catching Mark Twain’s Drift | Lawrence Howe, 1998


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