Tartuffe
Feigned religious devotion
Tartuffe is a religious hypocrite—someone who feigns piety to manipulate others.
The term comes from Molière's 1664 comedy of the same name, whose title character insinuates himself into a household by pretending to be devout.
He's a Tartuffe who quotes scripture while cheating his partners.
The word implies calculated deception rather than mere inconsistency.
Tartuffe's comic creator
- comedyWork meant to amuse
- impostorOne feigning another's identity
- hypocriteFeigns virtue falsely
- deceiverOne who tricks others
satire · French · 17th-century · unmasking · Palais-Royal · farce · bourgeois · Louis XIV
Feigned moral superiority
- pietySincere religious devotion
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- charlatanFaker claiming false expertise
- dissemblerOne who hides beliefs
zealot · pretense · duplicity · manipulation · mask · insincerity · sham · posturing
Insincere religious pretense
- hypocriticalFeigning beliefs one lacks
- two-facedInsincere and deceptive
- disingenuousFeigning ignorance or innocence
- insincereFeigning belief or feeling
deceitful · sanctimonious · duplicitous · phony · fraudulent
Petty fraud perpetrator
- televangelistBroadcast religious minister
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
- snake-oilFraudulent cure-all
- predatorOrganism that consumes others
seducer · opportunist · flatterer · parasite · mountebank · impersonator · infiltrator · manipulator
Molière
Tartuffe's comic creator
deceiver · satire · French · 17th-century · unmasking · Palais-Royal · farce · bourgeois · Louis XIV · verse
sanctimony
Feigned moral superiority
- pietySincere religious devotion
- fraudIntentional criminal trickery
- charlatanFaker claiming false expertise
dissembler · zealot · pretense · duplicity · manipulation · mask · insincerity · sham · posturing · affectation
tartuffery
Insincere religious pretense
- hypocriticalFeigning beliefs one lacks
- two-facedInsincere and deceptive
- disingenuousFeigning ignorance or innocence
insincere · deceitful · sanctimonious · duplicitous · phony · fraudulent
grifter
Petty fraud perpetrator
- televangelistBroadcast religious minister
- swindlerPerson who deceives for money
- snake-oilFraudulent cure-all
predator · seducer · opportunist · flatterer · parasite · mountebank · impersonator · infiltrator · manipulator · smooth-talker
- comedy typesclown, satire, parody, farce, slapstick
- 1600s WorksParadise Lost, Leviathan, Don Quixote, King James Bible, Hamlet
- Classic PlaysHamlet, Macbeth, Othello, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet
- French CharactersJean Valjean, Cosette, Javert, Athos, Porthos
- French PlaysHorace, Attila, Berenice, Esther, Psyche
- French SatireVoltaire, Candide, Charlie Hebdo, Gargantua, Montesquieu
Tartuffetrue believer
Completely committed adherent
Mother Teresa · saint · faithful servant · devout · ascetic
Tartuffestraight shooter
Forthright, blunt person
truth-teller · Abraham Lincoln · Atticus Finch · George Washington · Jean Valjean
TartuffeParsifal
Arthurian Grail quester
Galahad · Good Samaritan · Candide · Billy Budd · Jean Valjean