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• n  pretending with intention to deceive
• n  the act of deceiving
• v  make believe with the intent to deceive
• v  hide under a false appearance
• v  behave unnaturally or affectedly

• Moreover, the best liars tend to be the least troubled by their dissembling and produce the fewest outward clues.
• In the service of his objectives, he could be, and often was, devious, guileful, manipulative, evasive, dissembling, underhanded, even ruthless.
• The person who rubs his nose every 30 seconds may be dissembling, or he may simply be displaying a lifelong nervous habit.

• pretense
• pretence
• feigning
• deception
• deceit
• dissimulation
• feign
• sham
• pretend
• affect
• dissemble
• cloak
• mask
• act

News & Articles

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• Scenes From Washington’s Most Contentious–and Most Entertaining–Press Briefing
  The White House’s daily televised press briefings have long been known for their low theater: the posturing reporters, the dissembling spokesmen. But lately the better briefing show has been over at the State Department, which holds its own, much lower-profile, daily media session. The key ingredients here include the Obama administration’s rather convoluted positions on issues like Egypt’s ...
  Aug. 7, 2013 - Swampland

Quotes

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• Lord Boyce in The Guardian
  Commenting on Brown's evidence to the inquiry, Boyce told the Times: "He's dissembling, he's being disingenuous. It's just not the case that the Ministry of Defence was given everything it needed."
• Steny Hoyer in msnbc.com
  Hoyer added, "When Mr. Cheney talks about President Obama's giving the thoughtful consideration [about war policy] that he is somehow dissembling, frankly they turned tail. That is pretty tough language, but I get angry when I hear Vice President...
• Henry Waxman in Reuters
  We must stop the pattern of dissembling and the misuse of classified information,Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat and the sponsor, told the House.