disingenuous

adjective

- (of a person or their behaviour) slightly dishonest, or not speaking the complete truth

-  not candid or sincere, typically by pretending that one knows less about something than one really does

- lacking in candour, giving a false appearance of simple frankness, calculating

Cambridge Dictionary, Dictionary-Com, Oxford Languages

—
WORD ORIGIN

The word "disingenuous" comes from the Latin root ingenuus, meaning "free-born" or "honest”, which evolved into describing someone who is open or candid. The prefix dis- in Latin serves as a negation, so "disingenuous" means someone who is not candid or sincere.

By the 17th century, "disingenuous" had entered English to describe someone who pretends to be unaware or falsely portrays innocence, often for manipulative purposes.

—
SURVIVAL OF THE SNEAKIEST

The Pros and cons of Disingenuousness



Some evolutionary psychologists suggest that disingenuousness may have developed as a survival mechanism. In competitive social environments, pretending to be less competent or weaker than one actually is could reduce threats or manipulation from rivals. This social strategy is known as "strategic incompetence”.

In the world of law and politics, disingenuousness can be seen in communication,... politicians often using selective facts or half-truths to present a narrative that seems sincere but is actually meant to mislead. This type of behaviour is sometimes referred to as "plausible deniability", a tactic to shield oneself from direct accountability.

However, what is considered disingenuous can vary greatly from culture to culture. In some societies, indirectness or withholding one’s true intentions is seen as polite or necessary for maintaining social harmony. For example, in certain East Asian cultures, disingenuousness can be a subtle way to avoid confrontation or to maintain group harmony, which is culturally valued.

Disingenuous behaviour can also sometimes serve pro-social functions. For example, white lies told to spare someone's feelings or diplomatic language used to maintain peace in tense negotiations could be considered forms of “benevolent disingenuity”.

Paul & Helga Smith

—
SYNONYMS

affected, all talk and no action, artificial, being a fair-weather friend, being fake, being two-faced, bogus, calculated, charade, contrived, counterfeit, crooked, cunning, deceitful, DISINGENUOUS, dishonest, duplicitous, empty, ersatz, fabricated, facade, feigned, foxy, fraudulent, going through the motions, guileful, hollow, hypocritical, inauthentic, insincere, keeping up appearances, lacking sincerity, manufactured, masquerade, paying lip service, perfunctory, phony, playing a role, posturing, pretended, pretentious, pseudo, putting on airs, putting on an act, putting up a front, sham, shifty, showing a veneer of honesty, simulated, sly, specious, spurious, staged, superficial, synthetic, talking out of both sides of one's mouth, tricky, two-faced, underhanded, wearing a mask

—

SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“The DISINGENUOUS behaviour of many politicians has lost the confidence of many voters.”

—

THANKS to Thialda for suggesting today’s OWAD.

—
Why Support OWAD?

On evenings and weekends, I research and write your daily OWAD newsletter together with Helga (my lovely wife and business partner) and our eagle-eyed daughter Jennifer. It remains FREE, AD-FREE, and ALIVE thanks to voluntary donations from appreciative readers.

If you aren’t already, please consider supporting us — even a small donation, equivalent to just 1-cup-of-coffee a month, would help us in covering expenses for mailing, site-hosting, maintenance, and service.

Just head over to DonorBox:
Please help keep OWAD alive

or

Bank transfer:
Paul Smith
IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40

Important: please state as ’Verwendungszweck’: “OWAD donation” and the email address used to subscribe to OWAD.

Thanks so much,

Paul & Helga Smith