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two-faced

two-faced

22 6.7
A person who acts friendly to your face while saying bad things behind your back
  • adjective
  • /ˈtuːˌfeɪst/
  • Offensive
translation icon : hipócrita
  • I have never seen someone be so two-faced in my life.

Yet the two faced nature of the British does not end there.

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Examples

  • As far as a candidate for VP, no, if he's two-faced now, just think what he'd be as a VP.

    Blog text (24)
  • I used to be two-faced in my teaching.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Another dilemma for the Chinese is that they are living in a two-faced society.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Without getting too deep into it, he's kind of a two-faced person.

    Blog text (34)
  • If Obama plays it well, he could make Romney look like a two-faced hypocrite.

    Blog text (16)
  • She felt that her colleague was two-faced for pretending to support her while secretly undermining her work.

  • In this competitive environment, being two-faced can be a survival tactic as people often hide their true intentions.

  • He was often criticized for being two-faced, as he would compliment someone to their face but insult them behind their back.

Synonyms

hypocritical
vstwo-faced
83 6.1

Acting like you have strong moral rules when you do not follow them

focuses on moral pretence rather than only faking feelings for advantage
deceitful
vstwo-faced
31 5.0

Acting in a dishonest way to make people believe something untrue

is specific about pretending feelings and deliberate insincerity rather than general dishonesty
duplicitous
vstwo-faced
15 8.9

Pretending to feel one way while acting another way

is broader stressing insincerity and moral hypocrisy beyond intent shift
double-faced
vstwo-faced
  • Offensive
8.4

Appearing friendly while secretly acting in a dishonest way

is the general label for that deliberate insincerity and hypocrisy
Janus-faced
vstwo-faced
  • Offensive
9.9

To pretend to feel one thing while acting the opposite

is a more common way to signal pretending feelings with hidden motives
double-tongued
vstwo-faced
9.4

Showing one feeling while acting differently to trick people

highlights verbal or spoken deceit rather than only private insincerity

Antonyms

1.0

Truthful and fair, not cheating or lying

239 2.5

Being honest and showing what you really feel

How Insincere

deceitful
31 5.0
two-faced
  • Offensive
22 6.7
hypocritical
83 6.1
insincere
19 4.2

Surface Forms

two-faced positive

Morphology

two-faced = two + face (transparent) = two + face + ed

The adjective is a straightforward compound 'two' + 'faced' (face + -ed) whose figurative meaning ('having two faces' = hypocritical) is readily inferable.

Etymology

The word two-faced comes from the image of someone with two faces, or 'two faces', showing one face to you and hiding the other. So it means a person who pretends to be friendly but is not honest.