disguise
[verb]
Synonyms:
- hide, camouflage, cloak, conceal, cover, mask, screen, shroud, veil
- misrepresent, fake, falsify
[noun]
Synonyms:
- costume, camouflage, cover, mask, screen, veil
- façade, deception, dissimulation, front, pretence, semblance, trickery, veneer

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Contrasted words: display, exhibit, expose, flaunt, parade, show, betray, disclose, discover, reveal
Related Words: conceal, hide, obfuscate, obscure, belie, falsify, garble, misrepresent, affect, assume, counterfeit, feign, pretend, sham, simulate, deception, delusion, speciousness

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English Thesaurus: hide, conceal, cover up, disguise, camouflage, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. dis‧guise¹ /dɪsˈɡaɪz/ verb [transitive]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: desguiser, from guise 'appearance']

1. to change someone’s appearance so that people cannot recognize them
disguise yourself as somebody/something
Maybe you could disguise yourself as a waiter and sneak in there.
He escaped across the border disguised as a priest.

2. to change the appearance, sound, taste etc of something so that people do not recognize it:
There’s no way you can disguise that southern accent.
disguise something as something
a letter bomb disguised as a musical greetings card

3. to hide a fact or feeling so that people will not notice it:
Try as he might, Dan couldn’t disguise his feelings for Katie.
disguise the fact (that)
There’s no disguising the fact that business is bad.
The speech was seen by many as a thinly disguised attack on the president.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. disguise² noun

1. [uncountable and countable] something that you wear to change your appearance and hide who you are, or the act of wearing this:
His disguise didn’t fool anyone.
She wore dark glasses in an absurd attempt at disguise.

2. in disguise
a) wearing a disguise:
The woman in the park turned out to be a police officer in disguise.
b) made to seem like something else that is better:
‘Tax reform’ is just a tax increase in disguise.
⇒ blessing in disguise at blessing(4)

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

disguise
noun
VERB + DISGUISE adopt, put on, wear She adopted an elaborate disguise to help her pass through the town unrecognized.
see through We all saw through his disguise immediately.
PREP. in ~ The star travelled in disguise.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

disguise
verb
ADV. cleverly, cunningly She was cleverly disguised as a policewoman.
VERB + DISGUISE cannot/could not | try to
PREP. from You cannot disguise what you are doing from your family.
PHRASES an attempt to disguise sth He made no attempt to disguise his liking for her.
heavily disguised speaking in a heavily disguised voice
barely/thinly disguised In her speech she made several thinly disguised attacks on the president.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

disguise
verb
BAD: To get into the building, I'll disguise as a reporter.
GOOD: To get into the building, I'll disguise myself as a reporter.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

hide to make something difficult to see or find, or to not show your true feelings:
He hid the gun in his pocket.
She tried to hide her anger.
The actress put up a hand to hide her face from the cameras.
conceal formal to hide something, especially by carefully putting it somewhere. Also used when talking about hiding your feelings, especially in negative sentences:
Several kilos of drugs were concealed in the back of the truck.
He could not conceal his feelings any longer.
The girl quickly concealed the photograph she had been gazing at.
cover up to put something over another thing that you do not want people to see, in order to hide it completely:
People cover up cracks with wallpaper or tiles.
I used some make-up to cover up the spots.
She was wearing a thin shawl to cover up the bruises on her arm.
disguise to make someone or something seem like a different person or thing, so that other people cannot recognize them:
She managed to get into the camp by disguising herself as a soldier.
The men had disguised the vessel as fishing boat.
camouflage to hide something by covering it with materials that make it look like the things around it:
We camouflaged the plane by covering it with leaves.
The troops used charcoal to camouflage their faces.
Soldiers had camouflaged the trucks with branches and dirt.
obscure literary to make it difficult to see something clearly:
The view was obscured by mist.
His body was found, partially obscured by bushes, at the bottom of a shallow canyon.
mask to make something less noticeable, for example a taste, a smell, a sound, or a feeling:
The lemon helps to mask the taste of the fish.
Helen had turned on the radio to mask the noise of the traffic.
He did little to mask his contempt.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲