different between meretricious vs disingenuous

English

Etymology

From Latin meretr?cius, from meretr?x (“harlot, prostitute”), from mere? (“earn, deserve, merit”) (English merit) + -tr?x (“(female agent)”) (English -trix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m????t????s/, /?m????t????s/
• Rhymes: -???s

Adjective

meretricious (comparative more meretricious, superlative most meretricious)

1. Tastelessly gaudy; superficially attractive but having in reality no value or substance; falsely alluring.
   • 2006, Clive James, North Face of Soho, Picador 2007, p. 164:

     When I lifted my eyes from the page, there was none of the meretricious argument London always offers that the sole real purpose in life is to hustle for a buck.

2. (law) Involving unlawful sexual connection or lack of consent by at least one party (said of a romantic relationship).
3. (obsolete) Of, or relating to prostitutes or prostitution.

Synonyms

• (tastelessly showy): brassy, cheap, flashy, garish, gaudy, gimcrack, tacky, tatty, tawdry, trashy

Related terms

• merit (see also: merit: related terms)

Translations

English

Etymology

dis- +? ingenuous

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?d?s.?n.?d??n.ju.?s/

Adjective

disingenuous (comparative more disingenuous, superlative most disingenuous)

1. Not honourable; unworthy of honour
2. Not ingenuous; not frank or open

   Synonym: uncandid

   • 1726, William Broome, The Poems of Alexander Pope: The Odyssey of Homer. Books XIII-XXIV, edited by Maynard Mack, Methuen, 1969, volume 10, page 378:

     I am not so vain as to think these Remarks free from faults, nor so disingenuous as not to confess them:

3. Assuming a pose of naïveté to make a point or for deception.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "disingenuous" is often applied: attempt, argument, statement, conduct, people, excuse, question, assertion.

Derived terms

• disingenuously
• disingenuousness

Translations

Further reading

• disingenuous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• disingenuous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• disingenuous at OneLook Dictionary Search