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War and Peace vocabulary
564 vocabulary words, including people, places, music, artists, etc.
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duplicity
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synonyms: inconstance ???
► definition
Definition:1. Doubleness; a twofold state. [Archaic]2. Doubleness of heart or speech; insincerity; a sustained form of deception which consists in entertaining or pretending to entertain one of feelings, and acting as if influenced by another; bad faith.3. (Law)(a) The use of two or more distinct allegations or answers, where one is sufficient.(b) In indictments, the union of two incompatible offenses.Noah Webster. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
► uses
Uses:
Irene came down to the drawing-room to see me alone. I saw what she expected, and the shame of my duplicity overcame me utterly.
I took both her hands in mine and stood opposite her, ashamed to look her in the face, and with the terrible confession weighing me down like a burden of guilt. "Irene," I blurted out, without preface or comment, "I have just proposed to Césarine Vivian."
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I should be almost tempted to say that there is a strong appearance of duplicity in all this. But I will endeavour to banish every painful thought, and think only of what will make me happy—your affection,
Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice (1813)
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She suddenly felt ashamed of her duplicity, but even more she dreaded how he might meet her.
Leo Tolstoy. Anna Karenina
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I was a precocious actress in her eyes; she sincerely looked on me as a compound of virulent passions, mean spirit, and dangerous duplicity.
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The whole affair was a masterpiece of duplicity aimed at overwhelming them,
Tom Clancy. The Hunt for Red October, p.323 (1984)
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