dissimulate

/dɪˈsɪmjʊˌleɪt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English dissimulaten, dissimilaten, from Latin dissimulātus + -en (“verb-forming suffix”), perfect passive participle of dissimulō (“to conceal, to pretend, to neglect”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dissimilis (“unlike”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix). Compare the obsolete dissimule (“to conceal, disguise”), from Old French dissimuler (French dissimuler), ultimately from the same Latin root. Doublet of dissemble, dissimilate, and dissimule.

Why this word is great

DISSIMULATE — [Verb] To conceal one's true feelings or intentions by feigning a false appearance. From Latin dissimulātus, past participle of dissimulāre ("to conceal, pretend"), from dis- ("apart") + simulāre ("to simulate, pretend"). Unlike "dissemble" (which actively misleads with words) or "simulate" (which merely imitates without deceit), "dissimulate" is the quiet art of the poker face—the deliberate stillness of a hand that refuses to tremble, the practiced smile that masks a wound, or the measured tone of a voice that betrays nothing. It is the self-erasure of the inner world, a performance so convincing even the actor forgets the script.

verb

To practise deception by concealment or omission, or by feigning a false appearance; to dissemble.“But now, as he paced alone in his apartment, now that he was not upon exhibition, now when there was no eye to behold him, and there was no reason to dissimulate or veil a single thought or feeling, his look was anything but open; the last trace of frankness disappeared; the muscles at mouth and eyes shifted; lines and planes intermingled and altered subtly; there was a moment of misty transformat”
To disguise or hide by adopting a false appearance; to dissemble.“[P]ublic feeling required the meagreness of nature to be dissimulated by tall barricades of frizzed curls and bows.”
To connive at; to wink at; to pretend not to notice.“That al thyng be forgiven to theim that be olde and broken, and to theim that be yonge and lusty to dissimulate for a time, and nothyng to be forgiuen to very yong children.”

adj

Feigned, simulated, pretended, false.“Where they may win ought : by fayre diſimilate ſhow, There they flickar, and flatter, in fauer to grow.”