Category:Hypocrite

Hyp"o*crite, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. hypocrita, Gr. Hypocrisy.]

Defn: One who plays a part; especially, one who, for the purpose of winning approbation of favor, puts on a fair outside seeming; one who feigns to be other and better than he is; a false pretender to virtue or piety; one who simulates virtue or piety. The hypocrite's hope shall perish. Job 8:13. I dare swear he is no hypocrite, but prays from his heart. Shak.

Syn. -- Deceiver; pretender; cheat. See Dissembler.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Hypocrite - One who puts on a mask and feigns himself to be what he is not; a dissembler in religion. Our Lord severely rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for their hypocrisy (Matthew 6:2, Matthew 6:5, Matthew 6:16). "The hypocrite's hope shall perish" (Job 8:13). The Hebrew word here rendered "hypocrite" rather means the "godless" or "profane," as it is rendered in Jeremiah 23:11, i.e., polluted with crimes.