What does disingenuous mean?
Word: Disingenuous
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Disingenuous means not being fully honest, especially by acting as if you know less than you really do.
Synonyms: insincere
How do you spell disingenuous?
Syllables: dis - in - gen - u - ous
Tricky part: Genius and ingenious tempt pupils to slip in an i and write disingenious. There is no i after the n here, which keeps it apart from ingenious.
Watch out for: disingenious, disingenius
Memory tip: A person like this is not genuine, and the same four letters, genu, sit at the heart of both words.
Disingenuous in a sentence
Example 1: It was disingenuous of Raj to say he had never seen the scoresheet when he had filled it in himself.
Example 2: Her surprised look seemed disingenuous, since she had planned the party with us.
Example 3: The advert was a little disingenuous about how long the battery really lasts.
Fun Fact
The positive word inside it goes back to a Latin word for someone born free. Over the centuries it came to mean open and honest, and in the 1600s a prefix was added to make its opposite.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word disingenuous as used in the sentence:
Calling the plan a small change was disingenuous, as the whole timetable would be different.
a) devious
b) deceitful
c) candid
d) evasive
Show answer
c) candid. A candid person speaks openly; the other three words lean the same way as the word in the sentence.
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
d_s_ngenuous
a) e, e
b) i, i
c) e, i
d) i, e
Show answer
b) i, i. Both gaps take the short vowel heard in sit.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The salesman's claim that he had not read the report sounded egsuidonnius to the committee.
a) disingenuous
b) disadvantageous
c) disharmonious
d) discontinuous
Show answer
a) disingenuous. With a g, no t and no m among its twelve letters, the jumble can be only one word.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one word in the list is misspelt. Choose the meaning of that word:
1. perseverance 2. dissingenuous 3. ambiguous 4. colloquial
a) steady effort despite difficulty
b) suitable for relaxed, everyday talk
c) pretending to be more innocent than you are
d) having more than one possible meaning
Show answer
c) pretending to be more innocent than you are. This word starts with the ordinary dis, and that takes one s only.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which remark from a cook who has just burnt the rice would fit this word?
a) Let me cook a fresh batch.
b) I forgot to set the timer.
c) Oh, is something burning?
d) Sorry, I burnt the rice.
Show answer
c) Oh, is something burning?
2. Why do listeners dislike such a comment?
a) it lasts too long to follow
b) it is spoken too softly
c) it uses too many hard words
d) it makes them doubt the speaker
Show answer
d) it makes them doubt the speaker
