dishonesty
Tendency toward lying
Dishonesty is the quality of being untruthful or deceptive—lying, cheating, or misrepresenting facts.
It covers everything from small lies to systematic fraud: intellectual dishonesty, financial dishonesty, a pattern of dishonesty.
The word often implies a character trait rather than a single act: His dishonesty finally caught up with him.
Married person's sexual betrayal
- affairRomantic entanglement outside commitment
- unfaithfulnessBreach of romantic commitment
- cheatingDeceptive rule-breaking
- philanderingCasual extramarital affairs
mistress · lover · cuckold · womanizing · two-timing · extramarital · secret relationship · dalliance
Deliberate untrue statement
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- fibTrivial, harmless falsehood
- untruthA false statement
- prevaricationMisleading speech avoiding directness
misrepresentation · perjury · deception · whopper · tall tale · distortion · exaggeration · misstatement
Deliberate deception or fraud
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- guileSly, strategic dishonesty
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
subterfuge · ruse · ploy · stratagem · chicanery · artifice · feint · sleight
Dishonest money-making scheme
- swindleDeception for financial gain
- conArgument against
- hoaxDeliberate deception for effect
- forgeryCreating fraudulent imitations
counterfeit · phishing · embezzlement · identity theft · pyramid scheme · Ponzi scheme · flimflam · grift
Deliberate violation of trust
- backstabbingCovert betrayal of trust
- double-crossTreacherous deception of partner
- disloyaltyBreach of allegiance
- treasonBetraying one's nation
defection · turncoat · Judas · perfidy · sellout · traitor · quisling · broken promise
Corrupt payment for influence
- graftIllicit political gain
- kickbacksIllegal return payments
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- cronyismFavoring friends in appointments
nepotism · extortion · money laundering · racketeering · collusion · malfeasance · misappropriation · under-the-table
Lack of genuine feeling
- pretenseDeceptive outward show
- two-facednessDeceitful pretense of friendship
- sanctimonyFeigned moral superiority
- cantSanctimonious insincerity
lip service · double standard · façade · phoniness · posturing · virtue signaling · crocodile tears · saying one thing
adultery
Married person's sexual betrayal
- affairRomantic entanglement outside commitment
- unfaithfulnessBreach of romantic commitment
- cheatingDeceptive rule-breaking
philandering · mistress · lover · cuckold · womanizing · two-timing · extramarital · secret relationship · dalliance · stepping out
falsehood
Deliberate untrue statement
- fabricationDeliberately untrue statement
- fibTrivial, harmless falsehood
- untruthA false statement
prevarication · misrepresentation · perjury · deception · whopper · tall tale · distortion · exaggeration · misstatement · equivocation
trickery
Deliberate deception or fraud
- duplicityDeliberate misleading behavior
- guileSly, strategic dishonesty
- cunningSly, scheming cleverness
manipulation · subterfuge · ruse · ploy · stratagem · chicanery · artifice · feint · sleight · hoodwink
scam
Dishonest money-making scheme
forgery · counterfeit · phishing · embezzlement · identity theft · pyramid scheme · Ponzi scheme · flimflam · grift · bunco
treachery
Deliberate violation of trust
- backstabbingCovert betrayal of trust
- double-crossTreacherous deception of partner
- disloyaltyBreach of allegiance
treason · defection · turncoat · Judas · perfidy · sellout · traitor · quisling · broken promise · breach of trust
bribery
Corrupt payment for influence
- graftIllicit political gain
- kickbacksIllegal return payments
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
cronyism · nepotism · extortion · money laundering · racketeering · collusion · malfeasance · misappropriation · under-the-table · venality
insincerity
Lack of genuine feeling
- pretenseDeceptive outward show
- two-facednessDeceitful pretense of friendship
- sanctimonyFeigned moral superiority
cant · lip service · double standard · façade · phoniness · posturing · virtue signaling · crocodile tears · saying one thing
- bad behaviorslying, cheating, stealing, rudeness, gossiping
- bad traitsmeanness, rudeness, cruelty, hostility, nastiness
- career killersburnout, firing, layoff, job loss, demotion
- dishonestydeceit, duplicity, lying, mendacity, cheating
- human flawsmistake, error, flaw, fault, failing
- insincerityinsincerity, phoniness, fakeness, falseness, pretense
dishonestyhonesty
Truthfulness, sincerity
truthfulness · veracity · veraciousness · verity · accuracy
dishonestyintegrity
Moral soundness and consistency
honor · probity · uprightness · incorruptibility · rectitude
dishonestycandor
Unguarded truthfulness
frankness · openness · forthrightness · straightforwardness · sincerity
- academic dishonestyUnethical educational conduct