What does it mean to be a hypocrite?

Question

I looked in several dictionaries but the word itself is in the definition so they didn't really help me. correct me if i'm wrong but are those the people pretending to be someone that they're not? also, what do they do that make them a hypocrite?

thank you!

Answer 1

somebody who pretends to have admirable principles, beliefs, or feelings but behaves otherwise

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/d...

1. a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

2. a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, esp. one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.

http://dictionary.infoplease.com/hypocri...

Dictionary: hypocrisy

The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness.

An act or instance of such falseness.

[Middle English ipocrisie, from Old French, from Late Latin hypocrisis, play-acting, pretense, from Greek hupokrisis, from hupokrīnesthai, to play a part, pretend : hupo-, hypo- + krīnesthai, to explain, middle voice of krīnein, to decide, judge.]

Thesaurus: hypocrisy

noun

A show or expression of feelings or beliefs one does not actually hold or possess: pharisaism, phoniness, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, tartuffery, two-facedness. See honest/dishonest.

Antonyms: hypocrisy

n

Definition: deceitfulness, pretense

Antonyms: forthrightness, honesty, righteousness, sincerity, truth

Hypocrisy is the act of condemning or calling for the condemnation of another person when the critic is guilty of the act for which he demands that the accused be condemned. Though hypocrisy is frequently invoked as an accusation in debates, a few theorists have studied the utility of hypocrisy, and in some cases have suggested that the conflicts manifested as hypocrisy are a necessary or even beneficial part of human behavior and society.[1]

Etymology

The word hypocrisy derives from the Greek ὑπόκρισις (hypokrisis), which means "play-acting", "acting out", "feigning, dissembling" or "an answer"[2]; the word hypocrite is from the Greek word ὑποκρίτης (hypokrites), the agentive noun associated with ύποκρινομαι (hypokrinomai), i.e. "I play a part." Both derive from the verb κρίνω, "judge" presumably because the performance of a dramatic text by an actor was to involve a degree of interpretation, or assessment, of that text.

Nevertheless, whereas hypokrisis applied to any sort of public performance (including the art of rhetoric), hypokrites was a technical term for a stage actor and was not considered an appropriate role for a public figure. In Athens in the 4th Century BC, for example, the great orator Demosthenes ridiculed his rival Aeschines, who had been a successful actor before taking up politics, as a hypokrites whose skill at impersonating characters on stage made him an untrustworthy politician. This negative view of the hypokrites, perhaps combined with the Roman disdain for actors, later shaded into the originally neutral hypokrisis. It is this later sense of hypokrisis as "play-acting," i.e. the assumption of a counterfeit persona, that gives the modern word hypocrisy its negative connotation. In all this, we do not find the modern idea that the hypocrite is unaware that his performance or argument stands in contradiction with his self: on the contrary, a hypocrite in antiquity was someone who intentionally tried to deceive others.

Hypocrisy and morality

Hypocrisy has been described alongside lack of sincerity, as a characteristic which attracts particular opprobrium in the modern age. [3]Many belief systems condemn behaviours related to hypocrisy. In some translations of the Book of Job, the Hebrew word chaneph is rendered as "hypocrite," though it usually means "godless" or "profane." In the Christian Bible, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites in the passage known as the Woes of the Pharisees. [4] In the Buddhist text Dhammapada, Gautama Buddha condemns a man who takes the appearance of an ascetic but is full of passions within.[5] In Islam, the Qur'an rails against the munafiq - those who claim to be believers and peacemakers, thinking they are fooling Allah and others, but only fool themselves. [6]

Psychology of hypocrisy

In psychology, hypocritical behavior is closely related to the fundamental attribution error: individuals are more likely to explain their own actions by their environment, yet they attribute the actions of others to 'innate characteristics', thus leading towards judging others while justifying ones' own actions. [7]

Also, some people genuinely fail to recognize that they have character faults which they condemn in others. This is called Psychological projection. This is Self-deception rather than deliberate deception of other people. In other words, "Psychological hypocrisy" is usually interpreted by psychological theorists to be an unconscious defense mechanism rather than a conscious act of deception, as in the more classic connotation of hypocrisy. People understand vices which they are struggling to o

Answer 2

an example is saying your pro peace but you support  wars

Answer 3

A hypocrite is an individual who condemns a certain thought or action, but then does it or thinks it.

Answer 4

A hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does another.  Example would be someone who rallies against abortion but when her daughter gets pregnant, brings her for an abortion.  Or, someone says they aren't prejudiced but belongs to a club where all the members happen to be white-on purpose.

Hope this helps:)

Answer 5

For instance someone that gets drunk on Saturday night then go to church on sunday morning, or just doing something then criticizes someone else for doing it  

Answer 6

well let me explain lets say im saying a long lecture on recycling and how it is good then the next thing i throw a note book paper in the garbage then thats a hypocrit saying something that u dont belive in

Answer 7

its when a person has certain beliefs or principals but she doesnt actually do them.

My own definiton: A person who tells you not do do something but the same person does it. Example: my friend(not friend anymore i hate him) said do me why do you gel your hair, and the next day he uses like half a bottle of gel on his hair. I got pissed off.  

Answer 8

i think its when like you say you would never do something but you end up doing it anyways, so people will call whoever a hipocryt, i'm not sure if i'm right but i hoped this helps

Answer 9

It's when you preach one thing and practice another. For example, if you went around telling everyone how bad it is to smoke, and how no one should ever smoke, but then you were sneaking cigarettes when no one was looking.

Answer 10

Complaining or having a go at someone for doing/saying something, and then doing/saying it yourself. That's the best way I can explain it :S  

Answer 11

Example:

Saying you hate people that wear Hollister

Then you go wear Hollister.

Saying you hate people who cheat on their boyfriends.

Then you cheat on your boyfriend...

Answer 12

Say something and do something else. So being two faced.

Answer 13

Basically, to say one thing and do another.

Answer 14

A hypocrite is someone who acts contrary what  they say they believe or feel.  Some examples are for someone to make like they are so honest, caring or religious when they aren't.  They put on an act for people..guess you'd say they are phony people.

Answer 15

Desire for them selves and nothing for others.

Answer 16

saying one thing and doing another...

ex. telling your child to never smoke... but then smoking a pack a day

Answer 17

a hypocrite is a person that contradicts his/her beliefs and tends to say what he/she wouldnt do to a person but actually making the person doing what she wouldnt do