double lives
Two separate existences
Double lives is the plural of double life, which refers to a way of living in which someone maintains two separate existences, typically keeping one hidden from people who know them in the other.
The phrase usually implies deception: a person with a double life might appear respectable to family and colleagues while secretly engaging in crime, infidelity, or some other concealed activity.
The spy led double lives for years before being caught.
The expression emphasizes the stark division between public persona and private reality.
- alter egoA secondary persona
- secret identityUndisclosed true self
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
- secretConcealed information
- clandestineConcealed from authorities
hidden identities · deception · moonlighting · concealment · sleeper agents · mask · closeted · covert · shadow · Walter White · compartmentalization · Stevenson · spy · witness protection · hidden motives · betrayal · mistress · duplicity
- espionagespy, spies, spying, moles, secret agents
- secrecysecrecy, secret, secrets, confidential, classified
- Hidden Truthssecrets, lies, cover-ups, deception, mysteries
- secrecy in literaturemystery, secrets, spies, espionage, spy novels
- English CatholicismEnglish Reformation, Catholic bishops, Catholic clergy, priest holes, Catholic missions
double livestransparency
State of being see-through
openness · open book · full disclosure · nothing to hide · candor
double livesintegrity
Moral soundness and consistency
honesty · faithfulness · genuineness · authenticity · uprightness
double, lives, doubled, doubling, doubles, redouble, redoubled, redoubling, redoubles