Dictionary

disingenuously en · ADV

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˌdɪs.ɪnˈd͡ʒɛn.ju.əs.li/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Etymology tree English disingenuous Middle English -ly English -ly English disingenuously From disingenuous + -ly.

Meanings

1. In a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively.
   • Instead of inquiring why the facts oppose the theory, and where the explanation is to be found for this remarkable discrepancy, he disingenuously endeavours to give reasons for "the causes which operated, and do commonly operate, to prevent these extraordinary drafts on the productive resources of the country from being so much felt as it might seem reasonable to expect." 1874, Governor Musgrave, “Capital: Mr. Mill's Fundamental Propositions”, in The Contemporary Review, 24: 745:
2. In an unnoble manner; in a manner unbecoming of true honor or dignity; unworthily.
   • The letter's false intent trumps any truths within, which one would expect of a woman who disingenuously calls herself Fidessa. 2009, Michael L. Stapleton, Spenser's Ovidian Poetics, page 98:
3. In a manner that adopts a pose of naïveté, possibly to make a point or to deceive.
   • Churchill, a month later, would memorably if disingenuously describe Lend-Lease as a matter of "Give us the tools and we will finish the job." Roosevelt, a few days earlier, had described it a bit more prosaically, but no less disingenuously, as the equivalent of lending a neighbor whose house was on fire a garden hose, expecting to get it back when the fire was out. 2005, John Steele Gordon, An Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power, page 352:

Forms

Antonyms

candidly (antonym(s) of “in a manner that is not frank or open”) · openly (antonym(s) of “in a manner that is not frank or open”) · frankly (antonym(s) of “in a manner that is not frank or open”) · worthily (antonym(s) of “in an unnoble manner”) · nobly (antonym(s) of “in an unnoble manner”)

Relateds

disingenuous · disingenuousness

Synonyms

deceptively (in a manner that is not frank or open) · unworthily (in an unnoble manner) · ignobly (in an unnoble manner) · deceitfully (in a manner that is not frank or open)

Translations (11)

de unehrlicherweise (in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively) · sk pokrytecky (in a manner that adopts a pose of naivete, possibly to make a point or to deceive) · de hinterlistigerweise (in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively) · sk neúprimne (in a manner that adopts a pose of naivete, possibly to make a point or to deceive) · de unredlicherweise (in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively) · sk neúprimne (in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively) · de verschlagen (in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively) · mk неискрено (in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively) · de unwürdig (in an unnoble manner; in a manner unbecoming of true honor or dignity; unworthily) · sk pokrytecky (in a manner that is not frank or open; deceptively) · sk nečestne (in an unnoble manner; in a manner unbecoming of true honor or dignity; unworthily)