insincere
insincere — adjective
1. showing feelings or saying things that are not what you truly think or feel, so
showing feelings or saying things that are not what you truly think or feel, so that others doubt your honesty
Theo's praise of his rival's work sounded insincere to everyone who heard it.
linking verb + insincere (sound)
Leila gave an insincere smile when her colleague won the award she had hoped for.
attributive use: insincere + noun (smile)
The director's apology for the data leak felt insincere because he avoided every question afterward.
It is hard to trust a politician whose campaign promises sound so insincere.
Nadia struck her classmates as insincere when she flattered the teacher right before the exam.
- disingenuous
more formal; suggests someone is cleverly hiding their true intentions rather than merely being dishonest
- hypocritical
stronger moral judgment; implies a person claims to have higher standards than they actually follow
- two-faced
informal; describes someone who says different things to different people about the same topic
- fake
more informal and broader in scope; can describe objects as well as people
文法句型
be / sound / seem / feel + insincere
insincere + noun (apology, praise, smile, compliment)
用法筆記
Frequently occurs after linking verbs (sound, seem, feel, appear). Unlike fake, which can describe objects, insincere applies only to people and what they say or do.