Hypocrisy
Alcestejudged most social behavior as hypocritical. [Fr. Lit.: Le Misanthrope]
self-righteous abbot of the Capuchins at Madrid. [Br. Lit.: Ambrosio, or The Monk]
externally austere but inwardly violent. [Br. Lit.: Measure for Measure]
enchanter, disguised as hermit, wins confidence of Knight. [Br. Lit.: Faerie Queene]
false prude. [Fr. Lit.: The Misanthrope]
trusted domestic; betrays those he serves. [Fr. Lit.: Atar Gul, Walsh Modern, 32]
12th-century French order regarded as hypocritical. [Fr. Hist.: Espy, 99]
Allworthy’s nephew; talebearer and consummate pietist. [Br. Lit.: Tom Jones]
(1628–1680) false in honor and religion. [Br. Lit.: Peveril of the Peak, Walsh Modern, 61]
Emma’s lover pretends repentance to avoid commitment. [Fr. Lit.: Madame Bovary]
religious charlatan. [Am. Lit.: Undiscovered Country]
insincere speeches made solely to please this constituency by its representative, 1819–1821. [Am. Usage: Misc.]
ridicules people when absent; flatters them when present. [Fr. Lit.: Le Misanthrope]
lives luxuriously by religious cant. [Br. Lit.: The Hypocrite, Brewer Handbook, 175]
pharisaic preacher; thinks he’s edifying his hearers. [Br. Lit.: Bleak House]
conspirator; false to everyone. [Br. Lit.: Peveril of the Peak, Walsh Modern, 96]
crocodile said to weep after devouring prey. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 383; Mercatante, 9–10]
acted the humble minister for seven years while former amour suffered. [Am. Lit.: The Scarlet Letter]
pretend piety on Sabbath but demand dinner. [Br. Lit.: Nicholas Nickleby]
ranting preacher succumbs to alcohol, fornication, theft, and cowardice. [Am. Lit.: Elmer Gantry]
humble manner masks sly, shirking character. [Br. Lit.: Barnaby Rudge]
to inherit their father’s possessions they falsely profess great love for him. [Br. Drama: Shakespeare King Lear]
gentleman with adults, troublemaker behind their backs. [TV: “Leave it to Beaver” in Terrace, II, 18–19]
the essence of insincerity. [Br. Lit.: David Copperfield]
his philanthropy hid animosity. [Br. Lit.: Edwin Drood]
self-righteous pastor agrees to blackmail. [Nor. Lit.: Ghosts]
a “most vile” hedge-priest. [Br. Lit.: As You Like It]
sanctimonious preacher. [Br. Lit.: The Hypocrite, Brewer Handbook, 687]
embraces religion when it is easy to practice and to his advantage. [Br. Lit.: Bunyan Pilgrim’s Progress]
official speech of Oceania; language of contradictions. [Br. Lit.: 1984]
pretentious, unforgiving architect of double standards. [Br. Lit.: Martin Chuzzlewit]
sanctimonious lawgivers do not practise what they preach. [N.T.: Matthew 3:7; 23:1–15; Luke 18:9–14]
false fronts constructed to deceive. [Russ. Hist.: Espy, 339]
sanctimonious and pretentious person (Fr. n’y touche). [Fr. Usage: Brewer Dictionary, 760]
sanctimonious hypocrite; placed stepsons in Dotheboys Hall. [Br. Lit.: Nicholas Nickleby]
Tom’s tutor; spouts hypocritically about the beauty of virtue. [Br. Lit.: Tom Jones]
pays lip service to high principles while engaging in treacherous intrigues. [Br. Drama: Sheridan The School for Scandal]
swindles benefactor by pretending religious piety. [Fr. Lit.: Tartuffe]
changes religious affiliation to suit reigning monarch. [Br. Folklore: Walsh Classical, 61]
wept in sympathy for the oysters he and the Carpenter devoured. [Br. Lit.: Lewis Carroll Through the Looking-Glass]
nickname for hypocritical Tom Gradgrind. [Br. Lit.: Hard Times]
analogy in Jesus’s denunciation of Pharisees’ sanctimony. [N.T.: Matthew 23:27]
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.