different between sanctimonious vs disingenuous

English

Etymology

sanctimony +? -ous

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?sæ?k.t??m??.ni.?s/, /?sæ?k.t??m??.ni.?s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?sæ?k.t??mo?.ni.?s/, /?sæ?k.t??mo?.ni.?s/

Adjective

sanctimonious (comparative more sanctimonious, superlative most sanctimonious)

1. Making a show of being morally better than others, especially hypocritically pious.
   • 1623, William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure, Act I, scene ii:

     Thou conclud'st like the sanctimonious pirate, that went to sea with the Ten Commandements, but scrap'd one out of the table.

   • 2007, Alan Farrell, High Cheekbones, Pouty Lips, Tight Jeans, Lulu.com (?ISBN), page 77:

     It'd be easy to write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur (actually, I do write off Michael Moore as a fat, scruffy, sanctimonious Bolchevik poseur) but the fact is that there's about five minutes of cleverness in this […]

   • 2013, Ronald F. Marshall, Kierkegaard for the Church: Essays and Sermons, Wipf and Stock Publishers (?ISBN), page 333:

     And this is indeed needed, since we who consider these awkward Christian ideas are but fearful, sanctimonious people, as Kierkegaard once put it so passionately: O, you sanctimonious people with your love which does not set you apart […]

2. (archaic) Holy, devout.

Derived terms

• sanctimoniously
• sanctimoniousness
• sanctimony

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