I. -īz transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English disgisen, from Middle French desguiser, from Old French, from des- dis- (I)) + -guiser (from guise manner) — more at guise
1. : to change the customary dress or appearance of : furnish with a false appearance or an assumed identity
the noblemen disguised as hall porters look through you or past you — C.E.Montague
2. obsolete : to transform especially for the worse : deform , disfigure
3. : to deny or obscure the existence, identity, or true state or character of : conceal
a disguised tax
hate is disguised beneath all the fine phrases — Bertrand Russell
I see no reason for disguising my settled conviction — G.G.Coulton
4. archaic : to affect or change by liquor : intoxicate
Synonyms:
dissemble , cloak , mask : disguise , the most general of these four terms, stresses the fact of concealment of identity by usually temporary alteration of appearance or by usually temporarily presenting a false appearance as by assuming another's identity
had not been able to disguise their disapproval — Archibald Marshall
no judgment is so persuasive as when it is disguised as a statement of facts — R.P.Blackmur
our author, disguised as Jonathan Oldstyle — Saxe Commins
dissemble stresses more the intent to deceive, especially as to one's own thoughts or feelings, usually carrying a stronger implication of successful deception than does disguise and often suggesting something censurable
I account him faithful in the pulpit who dissembles nothing that he believes for fear of giving offense — William Cowper
smiling in the face of misfortune in order to dissemble the truth to the world — Clare Sheridan
a crafty child given to frequent dessembling
cloak and mask are often interchangeable with disguise although both usually carry the suggestion of only partial though deceptive concealment. cloak carries strongly the idea of covering something up usually with the intent of misleading or in an attempt to make something unacceptable seem acceptable
who cloaks the wisdom of her “uplift” talks in warm humanity — Muriel Segal
intolerance and public irresponsibility cannot be cloaked in the shining armor of rectitude and righteousness — A.E.Stevenson †1965
mask adds to cloak the idea of a certain obviousness in the covering and suggests even more strongly the unacceptableness of the thing masked, sometimes suggesting, correlatively, not only a neutral or even acceptable quality in the disguise as opposed to the thing masked but often a quality that positively ornaments or embellishes
his pessimism … became an obvious pose, an attempt to mask his porky complacence — Granville Hicks
the usual disorderly bustle which masks the deadly efficiency of the French people — Osbert Sitwell
the windows were masked by long cretonne drapes
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English disgise, from disgisen, v.
1. : unfamiliar or uncharacteristic style of dress or apparel assumed to conceal one's identity
a king in disguise
often : something used to conceal one's identity or counterfeit another's (as a masker's costume)
grotesque disguises at carnival balls
2.
a. : an outward form that misrepresents the true nature or identity of a person or thing : a deceptive appearance
blessings in disguise
b. : pretentious appearance : artifice or insincerity especially in manners or speech : pretense
throw off all disguise
c. : a misleading lack of correspondence between appearance and reality : deception , speciousness
without fear of evil or disguise — P.B.Shelley
3. : the act of disguising : assumption of an appearance to hide the truth
spoke with disguise
4. obsolete : change of manner by drink : intoxication
5. obsolete : masquerade