Other forms: hypocrites
A hypocrite is somebody who preaches what they do not practise. Call him a hypocrite, a moral hypocrite, accused of hypocrisy.
The accusation is cheap and often beside the point — a doctor who smokes is still right about smoking, and calling somebody a hypocrite dodges the argument. The Greek word meant an actor, which is exactly the image: someone playing a part.
1nounhypocriteSomebody who preaches what they do not practise.
“He's a hypocrite; he tells us to save water, but he washes his car every day.”
hypocrite is a person.
Greek hypokrites means an actor, from hypokrinesthai, to answer or play a part on stage.
Proto-Indo-European
*krey-
Ancient Greek
ὑποκριτής — actor, hypocrite
Latin
hypocrita
Old French
ypocrite
English, today
hypocrite
Built from
From Old French ypocrite (Modern French hypocrite), from Latin hypocrita, from Ancient Greek ὑποκριτής (“actor, hypocrite”), from ὑποκρίνομαι (“to answer, act, feign”). Displaced native līċettere.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA