counterfeisance means deception, dissimulation. It carries an Arena rating of 1398, earned across 43 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, counterfeisance ranks #762 of 17,128 for Most Ponderous Words, #1,355 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #1,445 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #1,648 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say.
Why “counterfeisance” is a great word
COUNTERFEISANCE — [Noun] The act or practice of fraudulent imitation or deceitful pretense. From the French contrefaisance, itself from contrefaire ("to counterfeit, imitate falsely"). First attested in English c. 1590. Unlike "counterfeit" (which denotes a forged object) or "dissimulation" (which implies a general concealment of intent), counterfeisance names the active, hypocritical performance of a false virtue. It is the unwavering smile of the courtier with a dagger in his sleeve, the false piety of the embezzling deacon, and the crafted tremor in a liar's voice—the subtle machinery of hypocrisy in motion, where the self becomes its own perfect forgery.
Etymology
From French contrefaisance.
noun
- Deception, dissimulation.e.g.“For he in counterfeisance did excell, / And all the wyles of wemens wits knew passing well.” — 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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