HYPOCRISY

n.

1 definition — Webster’s Dictionary (1828)


n.

The act or practice of a hypocrite; a feigning to be what one is not, or to feel what one does not feel; a dissimulation, or a concealment of one's real character, disposition, or motives; especially, the assuming of false appearance of virtue or religion; a simulation of goodness. Hypocrisy is the necessary burden of villainy. Rambler. Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue. La Rochefoucauld (Trans. ).