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dissimulate

English · Italiano

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dissimulate¹

  • /dɪˈsɪmjʊˌleɪt/
  • /-jə-/

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English dissimulaten, dissimilaten, from Latin dissimulātus + -en (“verb-forming suffix”), perfect passive participle of dissimulō (“to conceal, to pretend, to neglect”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dissimilis (“unlike”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Compare the obsolete dissimule (“to conceal, disguise”), from Old French dissimuler (French dissimuler), ultimately from the same Latin root. Doublet of dissemble, dissimilate, and dissimule.

verb dissimulates · dissimulating · dissimulated

  1. intransitive To practise deception by concealment or omission, or by feigning a false appearance; to dissemble. But now, as he paced alone in his apartment, now that he was not upon exhibition, now when there was no eye to behold him, and there was no reason to dissimulate or veil a single thought or feeling, his look was anything but open; the last trace of frankness disappeared; the muscles at mouth and eye
  2. transitive To disguise or hide by adopting a false appearance; to dissemble. [P]ublic feeling required the meagreness of nature to be dissimulated by tall barricades of frizzed curls and bows.
  3. rare, transitive To connive at; to wink at; to pretend not to notice. That al thyng be forgiven to theim that be olde and broken, and to theim that be yonge and lusty to dissimulate for a time, and nothyng to be forgiuen to very yong children.

dissimulate²

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English dissimulat(e), dissimilat(e) (attested in Robert Henryson with an active sense, see the citation page), from dissimulātus, see Etymology 1 and -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

adjective

  1. not comparable, obsolete Feigned, simulated, pretended, false. Where they may win ought : by fayre diſimilate ſhow, There they flickar, and flatter, in fauer to grow.

Translations

Every language

verb to deceive by concealment or omission

Españoldisimular, tapiñar
Deutschsich verstellen
Ελληνικάσυγκαλύπτω sygkalýpto, αποκρύπτω apokrýpto

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MLA

"dissimulate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dissimulate. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dissimulate. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dissimulate

Chicago

"dissimulate." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dissimulate.

BibTeX
@misc{dissimulate_2026,
  title = {dissimulate},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dissimulate},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}