Dissimulators

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A group of individuals who conceal their true feelings or intentions by presenting a false persona or opinion
2. people who engage in the act of deceiving others to mask their real thoughts or behaviors
3. those who intentionally mislead or distort their identity or beliefs to fit into a social context or avoid detection

Etymology: Anyone who has ever feigned enthusiasm for a dull gift has been a dissimulator, and the Latin root behind the word is surprisingly loaded. "Dissimulare" meant "to conceal" or "to pretend," but it also carried a sense of neglecting or passing over something, as if the truth were being set aside rather than hidden outright. That blend of concealing and looking the other way is still visible in the word's shape. The verb "dissimulate" came into English from Latin "dissimulare," and "dissimulator" follows the common pattern of adding "-or" to form a noun for the person who performs the action. English took the Latin agent suffix directly, so the noun simply names whoever does the concealing. The Latin verb itself is built from "dissimilis," meaning "unlike," plus a verbal ending. That origin is a little odd: the link between "unlike" and "pretending" is not transparent, and the connection is best understood as a Latin development rather than a logical step a speaker would reconstruct from the parts.

Synonyms: deceivers, pretenders

Antonyms: truth-tellers