What does dissimulation mean?
Dissimulation is the practice of concealing one's true feelings, beliefs, or intentions behind a false outward appearance, usually with intent to deceive. A person given to dissimulation might feign friendship while harbouring resentment, or hide political ambitions beneath an air of modesty. The word belongs chiefly to formal registers — literature, history, political analysis — and almost always carries a negative connotation: unlike tact or discretion, which involve simply withholding information politely, dissimulation implies active pretence and misrepresentation. It appears frequently in descriptions of courtly intrigue, espionage, and diplomatic negotiation, where masking one's hand is often a matter of strategy or survival. Related forms include the verb 'dissimulate' and the adjective 'dissimulative'. For readers of classic literature, the word is invaluable: novelists from Shakespeare's era onward have used it to expose characters whose public faces diverge sharply from their private selves.
nounThe concealment of one's true feelings, beliefs, or intentions, especially by pretence or false appearance; the act of disguising or misrepresenting what one really thinks or feels.
- The act of concealing one's true feelings, motives, or character under a false outward show, typically to deceive others.
"Behind her cheerful manner lay a careful dissimulation of her true ambitions."
"His habitual dissimulation made it impossible for colleagues to know where he truly stood on the matter."
"The diplomat's artful dissimulation allowed her to keep negotiations alive without revealing her government's real position."
Rarely pluralised; the word is normally uncountable. When pluralised it refers to individual instances or acts of concealment, usually in literary contexts.
"The memoir catalogues a lifetime of small dissimulations, each one concealing some private shame."
Shakespeare used 'dissemble' and its kin over 60 times across his plays — in his world, dissimulation wasn't just polite, it was survival.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dissimulation
Dissimulation derives from the Latin verb 'dissimulare', formed from 'dis-' (expressing reversal or removal) plus 'simulare' (to make like, to pretend), itself from 'similis' meaning 'like' or 'similar'. The word entered English via Latin in the late Middle Ages, with the noun form attested from around the early 15th century. Its Latin root also gives us 'simulate', 'simultaneous', and 'simulacrum' — all words concerned with likeness or imitation.
Related word forms
How dissimulation is actually used
A formal, somewhat literary term, most at home in written English, political commentary, and discussions of diplomacy or moral character. It generally carries a disapproving connotation, implying calculated deceit rather than mere tact or discretion. The related verb is 'dissimulate'.
Easily confused with dissimulation
Dissemble is a verb meaning to hide one's true feelings or to disguise oneself, while dissimulation is a noun referring to the act of such concealment; they are closely related but differ in grammatical form.
Simulation means an imitation or model of something real, whereas dissimulation means hiding one's true feelings or intentions — dissimulation carries a connotation of deliberate deception that simulation does not.