📐 A slant 👶 Abnormal angle 🕵️ Dishonesty

obliquity

9.9

Behavior that hides the truth to mislead people

noun
/əˈblɪkwɪti/

Formal

: deshonestidad

Her obliquity in handling the situation left many colleagues feeling confused and betrayed.

Examples

In Lee Patterson's words, "the poem's style is defined by understatement, displacement, indirection, allusion, obliquity, and reticence."

Academic text (2016)
The politician was accused of obliquity for misleading the public in his speeches.
What is salvation but man rescued from obliquity?

Fiction book (1991)
If obliquity were a vice we should all be tainted.

The House of Mirth (2000)
In contrast, it is difficult to conceive of the release of East Asian intellectual enterprises from their moral and ethical moorings, even if morals become simply hypocritical subterfuges or strategies of obliquity.

Academic text (2016)
The detective uncovered the suspect's obliquity, revealing how he had intentionally misled the investigation.

Synonyms

hypocrisy

vsobliquity

154 6.4

Pretending to have moral beliefs you do not follow

is a broader moral or intellectual misleading, not only moral pretense

dishonesty

vsobliquity

46 3.2

Actions like lying, cheating, or stealing

highlights moral or intellectual misleading rather than specific wrongful acts

mendacity

vsobliquity

Formal

7 9.3

A habit of often telling lies that makes it difficult for people to trust you

covers moral or intellectual misleading beyond simply the act of lying

insincerity

vsobliquity

4 5.6

Not showing true feelings when you speak or act

adds moral or intellectual misleading beyond merely false emotion or tone

disingenuousness

vsobliquity

3 8.8

A way of hiding the truth by pretending to be less involved

refers to broader moral or intellectual misleading, not only feigned naivety

deceitfulness

vsobliquity

2 6.5

Trying to make other people believe something that is not true

focuses more on moral or intellectual misleading than mere false impressions

falseness

vsobliquity

2 5.8

A way of speaking or acting that is not true

stresses moral or intellectual misleading rather than mere incorrectness

deviousness

vsobliquity

2 7.0

Secret actions that are dishonest or unfair to get what you want

focuses on moral or intellectual misleading rather than merely indirect tactics

fraudulence

vsobliquity

1 8.7

Dishonest behaviour that aims to get money or other unfair personal gain

is the broader notion of moral or intellectual misleading beyond financial schemes

untruthfulness

vsobliquity

1 7.0

Saying things that are not true on purpose

adds a moral or intellectual element beyond only false statements

shadiness

vsobliquity

1 6.9

Dishonest or secret behavior that seems against the law

focuses on moral or intellectual misleading rather than legal suspicion alone

sleaziness

vsobliquity

Literature

1 8.1

Being dishonest and unfair in a way that harms others

describes broader moral or intellectual misleading rather than low moral nastiness

deceptiveness

vsobliquity

1 7.2

A quality that makes something seem true when it is false

emphasises moral or intellectual wrongdoing instead of only false appearance

humbuggery

vsobliquity

Archaic

1 9.7

Dishonest words or actions that try to trick people

focuses on moral or intellectual misleading rather than planned tricking

speciousness

vsobliquity

Formal

1 9.4

The appearance of being true when it is false

is broader moral or intellectual misleading, not only attractive wrong reasoning

double-dealing

vsobliquity

1 7.1

Dishonest behavior of pretending one thing but doing another

represents general moral or intellectual misleading rather than only two-faced behaviour

underhandedness

vsobliquity

1 7.1

Dishonest or sneaky behaviour to get what you want

highlights moral or intellectual misleading instead of secretive technique

crookedness

vsobliquity

1 6.9

Dishonest behavior by a person or group

refers to moral or intellectual misleading beyond illegal or private gain

corruptness

vsobliquity

1 6.2

A habit of being dishonest and breaking rules to get money or power

stresses intellectual or moral misleading rather than rule-breaking for profit

unscrupulousness

vsobliquity

8.8

A habit of ignoring right and wrong and being dishonest to get what you want

emphasises intellectual or moral misleading broadly rather than only lack of rules

snideness

vsobliquity

8.4

A false, not sincere way of speaking or behaving that hides true feelings

is the broader moral or intellectual misleading rather than mere mean tone

Antonyms

honesty

365 1.0

Being truthful and fair in what you say and do

integrity

132 4.4

Being whole and not broken, for example in a building or file

How Honest

integrity

447 4.3

honesty

365 1.0

obliquity

Formal

9.9

dishonesty

46 3.2

deceit

66 4.6

Surface Forms

obliquity singular

obliquities plural

Morphology

obliquity = oblique (semi-transparent) = oblique + ity

The moral/intellectual sense is a metaphorical extension from 'not straight'/'indirect' to 'crookedness', so the connection exists but is figurative.

Etymology

Obliquity comes from the Latin obliquus, which means 'slanting', and you can think of that as 'not straight'. A helpful way to remember this sense is that 'not straight' can also mean 'not honest' or indirect, so obliquity can mean being dishonest or indirect in thought.