Disingenuous

Not candid or sincere; intentionally pretending to be naive or harmless in order to mislead others.

adjective

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Imagine This

Imagine a coworker who smiles and nods at every suggestion in a meeting, then quietly acts on a plan that contradicts what they just seemed to support.

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Sounds Like

dis-in-JEN-yoo-uhs

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Looks Like

Resembles ingenuous (naive) but with the dis- prefix, signaling the opposite.

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Remember This

Disingenuous is the opposite of ingenuous. It is often confused with ingenious due to similar spelling; disingenuous refers to insincerity, not cleverness.

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Other Forms

disingenuousnessnoun

disingenuouslyadverb

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Connect With

insincere, deceitful, duplicitous, hypocritical; contrast with ingenuous, sincere, candid

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Note

Use disingenuous to describe deliberate insincerity or feigned innocence aimed at manipulation. Do not confuse with 'disingenuous' meaning merely 'not straightforward' in casual speech; it typically carries a sense of deceit.

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Study Deeper

Examples

The politician's apology sounded disingenuous, as if he were blaming others while avoiding accountability.
Her disingenuous questions gave the impression she was listening, but she already had her own agenda.

Synonyms

insinceredeceptiveduplicitousdishonesthypocritical

Antonyms

ingenuoussincerehonestcandid

Etymology

From dis- (not) + ingenuous (naive, candid); ingenuous itself comes from the Latin ingenuus 'freeborn, noble', later evolving to mean candid or naive.

Mnemonic

DIS-INGENUOUS = not ingenuous. Picture a person wearing a naive smile as a disguise to hide real motives; they are not ingenuous at all.