Idioms are fun phrases that mean something different from the literal words you say. People use them every day to make talking and writing much more colorful and exciting. In this lesson, you will learn a wonderful collection of idioms related to hypocrisy and saying one thing while doing another.
In this lesson, we’ll look at idioms for hypocrisy that mean acting insincerely, pretending to be good, and saying opposite things. Let’s get started and explore some of these helpful expressions.
Idioms for Hypocrisy
1. Wolf in sheep’s clothing
Meaning: This idiom describes a dangerous or hypocritical person who pretends to be gentle and nice.
For Example: He seemed friendly at first, but turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing when he broke our trust. / Do not let his kind words fool you because he is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Other Ways to Say: Fake friend / Deceitful person
2. Talk the talk
Meaning: This idiom means talking big about doing something good, but failing to follow through.
For Example: Anyone can talk the talk about cleaning the playground, but you actually have to do the work. / He loves to talk the talk, but he rarely helps out.
Other Ways to Say: Brag about actions / Speak empty words
3. Walk the walk
Meaning: This idiom is often paired with talking to show actual honest actions instead of hypocrisy.
For Example: She does not just talk the talk; she truly walks the walk by volunteering every weekend. / Prove your honesty by walking the walk instead of just making promises.
Other Ways to Say: Act honestly / Prove it with actions
4. Practice what you preach
Meaning: This idiom means doing the exact right behaviors that you tell other people they should do.
For Example: If you tell everyone to arrive on time, you need to practice what you preach. / It is important to practice what you preach when teaching good manners.
Other Ways to Say: Follow your own rules / Be consistent
5. Two-faced
Meaning: This idiom describes a hypocritical person who acts friendly to your face, but says mean things behind your back.
For Example: Do not trust him because he is completely two-faced with his classmates. / Finding out she was two-faced ruined our friendship.
Other Ways to Say: Insincere / Deceitful
6. Speak out of both sides of your mouth
Meaning: This idiom means saying conflicting things at different times to trick people or act hypocritically.
For Example: He promised to share the toys, but then kept them all, speaking out of both sides of his mouth. / Stop speaking out of both sides of your mouth and tell the real truth.
Other Ways to Say: Be inconsistent / Lie hypocritically
7. Pot calling the kettle black
Meaning: This idiom describes a hypocritical situation where someone criticizes another person for a fault they have themselves.
For Example: He told me my room was messy, which is the pot calling the kettle black since his room is a disaster. / Complaining about someone being late when you are always late is the pot calling the kettle black.
Other Ways to Say: Hypocritical criticism / Mutual fault
8. Fair-weather friend
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who acts supportive only when things are easy, but disappears when trouble starts.
For Example: When I failed the test, he stopped talking to me, proving he was just a fair-weather friend. / True companions stay close, unlike a fair-weather friend.
Other Ways to Say: Insincere companion / Unreliable friend
9. Crocodile tears
Meaning: This idiom describes fake, hypocritical tears and sadness that someone shows to trick people.
For Example: He cried crocodile tears after getting caught breaking the rule, but he was not truly sorry. / Do not fall for her crocodile tears when she drops her toy on purpose.
Other Ways to Say: Fake crying / Insincere sorrow
10. Phony
Meaning: This idiom or descriptive term describes someone who acts fake and hypocritical.
For Example: Everyone realized he was being totally phony when he praised the artwork he secretly disliked. / Do not be phony; just tell us your honest opinion.
Other Ways to Say: Fake / Insincere
11. Put on an act
Meaning: This idiom means pretending to feel or behave a certain way to hide your true hypocritical nature.
For Example: He put on an act of being polite whenever the teacher walked into the room. / Stop putting on an act and just be yourself.
Other Ways to Say: Pretend / Fake behavior
12. Wear a mask
Meaning: This idiom means hiding your true hypocritical personality behind a fake, friendly appearance.
For Example: He wore a mask of kindness to trick people into liking him. / It is better to be honest than to wear a mask around friends.
Other Ways to Say: Hide true self / Fake identity
13. Put on a facade
Meaning: This idiom means maintaining a false, hypocritical appearance of perfection.
For Example: She put on a facade of confidence while feeling very nervous inside. / Do not let his nice facade fool you.
Other Ways to Say: Fake appearance / False front
14. Sugarcoat hypocrisy
Meaning: This idiom means making a hypocritical behavior sound nicer than it really is.
For Example: Do not try to sugarcoat your broken promise with nice words. / He tried to sugarcoat his unfair rule breaking.
Other Ways to Say: Soften deceit / Mask faults
15. Playing both sides
Meaning: This idiom means pretending to agree with two opposing groups in a hypocritical way.
For Example: He got caught playing both sides of the argument during the club debate. / Stop playing both sides and choose what you actually believe.
Other Ways to Say: Be inconsistent / Act insincerely
16. Lip service
Meaning: This idiom means expressing support with words only, without taking any honest action.
For Example: He paid lip service to helping clean the yard, but never picked up a rake. / Saying you care without helping is just paying lip service.
Other Ways to Say: Empty words / Insincere support
17. Hollow promises
Meaning: This idiom describes hypocritical promises that someone has no intention of keeping.
For Example: We were tired of hearing his hollow promises about finishing the group project. / Do not make hollow promises if you cannot follow through.
Other Ways to Say: Fake promises / Empty words
18. All talk and no action
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who brags about what they will do, but never actually does it.
For Example: He promised to build the best robot, but he was all talk and no action. / Do not listen to his boasting because he is all talk and no action.
Other Ways to Say: Bragger / Inactive talker
19. Empty suit
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who looks important and speaks nicely, but has no genuine skill or honesty.
For Example: Without any real ideas, the leader felt like an empty suit during the meeting. / We need honest workers, not an empty suit.
Other Ways to Say: Incompetent person / Fake leader
20. Double agent
Meaning: This idiom jokingly describes someone who acts hypocritically by switching sides secretly.
For Example: He shared our game secrets with the other team like a double agent. / Playing games fairly is better than acting like a double agent.
Other Ways to Say: Turncoat / Two-faced person
21. Speaking out of both sides
Meaning: This idiom means giving conflicting statements to different people to look good.
For Example: She kept speaking out of both sides about who broke the crayon. / You cannot keep speaking out of both sides without getting caught.
Other Ways to Say: Be inconsistent / Lie
22. Fair-weather supporter
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who cheers you on only when you win, acting insincerely.
For Example: When our team lost the tournament, the fair-weather supporter stopped coming to games. / True friends stay loyal, unlike a fair-weather supporter.
Other Ways to Say: Unreliable helper / Fake fan
23. Playing the hypocrite
Meaning: This idiom means scolding others for doing the exact thing you do yourself.
For Example: He told us not to run in the hallway while sprinting himself, completely playing the hypocrite. / Stop playing the hypocrite and follow the rules.
Other Ways to Say: Act hypocritically / Be inconsistent
24. Saying one thing and doing another
Meaning: This idiom describes the classic hypocritical behavior of mismatched words and actions.
For Example: Telling us to save paper while throwing away notebooks is saying one thing and doing another. / His leadership involved saying one thing and doing another.
Other Ways to Say: Act hypocritically / Be inconsistent
25. Insincere praise
Meaning: This idiom describes giving compliments that you do not mean at all.
For Example: We could tell her compliments were just insincere praise to get attention. / Avoid giving insincere praise to your classmates.
Other Ways to Say: Fake compliment / Empty words
26. Painted sepulchre
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who looks beautiful and good on the outside, but is corrupt inside.
For Example: The tricky salesman acted like a painted sepulchre with his charming smile. / Do not trust a painted sepulchre.
Other Ways to Say: Fake goodness / Deceitful appearance
27. Putting on airs
Meaning: This idiom means acting artificially superior and fake to impress people.
For Example: He started putting on airs after winning the spelling bee. / Just act naturally instead of putting on airs.
Other Ways to Say: Act snobby / Pretend superiority
28. False modesty
Meaning: This idiom describes pretending to be humble while actually fishing for compliments.
For Example: Saying your artwork is terrible when you know it is great is just false modesty. / Avoid false modesty and accept your award proudly.
Other Ways to Say: Fake humility / Insincere shyness
29. Playing innocent
Meaning: This idiom means pretending you had nothing to do with a mistake you caused.
For Example: When the vase broke, he immediately started playing innocent. / Do not sit there playing innocent when everyone saw what happened.
Other Ways to Say: Act blameless / Feign ignorance
30. Playing possum hypocrisy
Meaning: This idiom describes pretending to be unaware of your own hypocritical rules.
For Example: He started playing possum hypocrisy when asked about his own bad behavior. / Stop playing possum hypocrisy and admit you broke the rule.
Other Ways to Say: Feign ignorance / Act unaware
31. Playing the saint
Meaning: This idiom describes acting purely good and holy while secretly breaking rules.
For Example: He scolded everyone for talking, while playing the saint despite being loud earlier. / Stop playing the saint when we know what you did.
Other Ways to Say: Act holier-than-thou / Pretend perfection
32. Holier-than-thou
Meaning: This idiom describes an attitude of smug moral superiority over other people.
For Example: Nobody liked his holier-than-thou attitude when discussing classroom chores. / Being humble is better than acting holier-than-thou.
Other Ways to Say: Smug / Arrogant
33. High horse
Meaning: This idiom describes acting superior, arrogant, and hypocritical toward others.
For Example: Get off your high horse and admit you make mistakes too. / He sat on his high horse judging everyone’s homework.
Other Ways to Say: Act arrogant / Be superior
34. Looking down your nose
Meaning: This idiom means treating others with arrogant and hypocritical disrespect.
For Example: Do not look down your nose at classmates who need extra help in math. / She looked down her nose at our simple art project.
Other Ways to Say: Act snobby / Judge rudely
35. Snob
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who acts superior and hypocritical about tastes or status.
For Example: He acted like a snob when rejecting our simple game suggestion. / Being kind is better than acting like a snob.
Other Ways to Say: Arrogant person / Superior individual
36. Two-faced friend
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who smiles to your face and gossips behind your back.
For Example: Finding out she was a two-faced friend broke my trust. / Avoid trusting a two-faced friend.
Other Ways to Say: Insincere companion / Backstabber
37. Fair-weather partner
Meaning: This idiom describes a teammate who helps only when things are going great.
For Example: When our science project struggled, he acted like a fair-weather partner and quit. / We need reliable teammates, not a fair-weather partner.
Other Ways to Say: Unreliable helper / Fake ally
38. Fake smile
Meaning: This idiom describes an insincere expression used to hide true feelings.
For Example: He wore a fake smile while greeting the person he disliked. / We could tell her greeting involved a fake smile.
Other Ways to Say: Insincere grin / Forced smile
39. Insincere charm
Meaning: This idiom describes a fake, overly sweet personality used to trick people.
For Example: The salesman tried to win us over with his insincere charm. / Do not fall for his insincere charm.
Other Ways to Say: Fake friendliness / Artificial sweetness
40. Deceitful facade
Meaning: This idiom describes a completely false, hypocritical outer appearance.
For Example: Beneath his deceitful facade, he was planning to break the rules. / We saw right through his deceitful facade.
Other Ways to Say: False front / Fake appearance
41. Saying one thing, meaning another
Meaning: This idiom describes verbal hypocrisy where words do not match inner thoughts.
For Example: Telling us you are happy while frowning is saying one thing, meaning another. / Clear communication requires saying what you mean.
Other Ways to Say: Be hypocritical / Be inconsistent
42. Talking out of school
Meaning: This idiom can describe leaking secrets or speaking hypocritically about rules.
For Example: He scolded us for whispering while talking out of school himself. / Stop talking out of school and follow the guidelines.
Other Ways to Say: Be hypocritical / Speak improperly
43. Double standard
Meaning: This idiom describes a hypocritical rule where one person is allowed to do something forbidden to others.
For Example: Expecting us to be quiet while shouting himself is a clear double standard. / Setting a double standard makes teamwork unfair.
Other Ways to Say: Unfair rule / Hypocritical standard
44. Hypocritical stance
Meaning: This idiom describes taking a moral position that you do not follow yourself.
For Example: Taking a hypocritical stance on recycling while littering makes no sense. / Avoid a hypocritical stance in debates.
Other Ways to Say: False position / Insincere view
45. False pretenses
Meaning: This idiom means tricking people into trusting you by hiding your true hypocritical intentions.
For Example: He joined the club under false pretenses just to steal our snack ideas. / Operating under false pretenses destroys friendship trust.
Other Ways to Say: Deceit / Fake reasons
46. Playing the angel
Meaning: This idiom describes acting innocent and good after doing something hypocritical.
For Example: After breaking the rule, he started playing the angel for the teacher. / Stop playing the angel when we know you caused the mess.
Other Ways to Say: Act innocent / Feign purity
47. Putting on airs of virtue
Meaning: This idiom means pretending to have high moral standards while acting hypocritically.
For Example: He walked around putting on airs of virtue while ignoring his own chores. / Avoid putting on airs of virtue.
Other Ways to Say: Pretend morality / Fake goodness
48. False piety
Meaning: This idiom describes fake, hypocritical religious or moral righteousness.
For Example: His false piety became obvious when he treated his classmates unkindly. / True kindness beats false piety every time.
Other Ways to Say: Fake righteousness / Hypocritical goodness
49. Sanctimonious
Meaning: This idiom or descriptive word means making a hypocritical show of moral superiority.
For Example: Everyone disliked his sanctimonious lectures on how to behave. / Be kind instead of sounding sanctimonious.
Other Ways to Say: Smug / Holier-than-thou
50. Self-righteous
Meaning: This idiom describes someone convinced of their own moral perfection and hypocrisy.
For Example: His self-righteous attitude made teamwork very frustrating. / Avoid being self-righteous when correcting others.
Other Ways toSay: Smug / Arrogant
51. Phony smile
Meaning: This idiom describes an insincere facial expression showing fake happiness.
For Example: He greeted us with a phony smile before walking away. / We spotted his phony smile instantly.
Other Ways to Say: Fake grin / Insincere expression
52. Fake kindness
Meaning: This idiom describes doing nice things only when people are watching to look good.
For Example: Her fake kindness disappeared the moment the teacher left the room. / True friendship does not rely on fake kindness.
Other Ways to Say: Insincere goodness / Artificial help
53. Empty praise
Meaning: This idiom describes compliments given without any genuine feeling behind them.
For Example: We did not want his empty praise after he insulted our project earlier. / Give honest feedback instead of empty praise.
Other Ways to Say: Fake compliment / Insincere words
54. Hypocrite
Meaning: This idiom or term describes a person who practices hypocrisy regularly.
For Example: Calling someone a hypocrite is easy when they tell you not to eat candy while eating candy themselves. / Being a hypocrite destroys trust.
Other Ways toSay: Two-faced person / Insincere individual
55. Insincere friend
Meaning: This idiom describes someone who pretends to care, but lacks true loyalty.
For Example: Finding out she was an insincere friend was a hard lesson. / Surround yourself with loyal people, not an insincere friend.
Other Ways to Say: Fake companion / Unreliable person
56. Deceitful words
Meaning: This idiom describes spoken promises meant to trick or mislead people.
For Example: Do not listen to his deceitful words about the missing supplies. / Honest actions matter more than deceitful words.
Other Ways to Say: Lies / Fake statements
57. Hidden motives
Meaning: This idiom describes secret, hypocritical reasons behind someone’s seemingly nice actions.
For Example: We suspected he helped us clean with hidden motives for getting a reward. / Her kindness came with hidden motives.
Other Ways to Say: Secret agenda / Ulterior motives
58. Sugarcoated lies
Meaning: This idiom describes dishonest statements made to sound sweet and harmless.
For Example: We saw right through his sugarcoated lies about the broken rule. / Tell the plain truth without sugarcoated lies.
Other Ways to Say: Sweet falsehoods / Masked deceit
59. False promise
Meaning: This idiom describes a commitment made with no intention of following through.
For Example: Promising to share the crayons and then keeping them all was a false promise. / Never make a false promise to your classmates.
Other Ways to Say: Broken pledge / Empty vow
60. Insincere gesture
Meaning: This idiom describes an action of kindness done purely to look good to others.
For Example: Bringing one small flower just to look nice was an insincere gesture. / Make sure your help is a real act, not an insincere gesture.
Other Ways to Say: Fake action / Artificial kindness
Exercise to Practice
- He seemed friendly at first, but turned out to be a ________ when he broke our trust.
- Anyone can talk the talk about cleaning the playground, but you actually have to ________.
- If you tell everyone to arrive on time, you need to ________.
- Do not trust him because he is completely ________ with his classmates.
- He promised to share the toys, but then kept them all, ________.
- He told me our room was messy, which is the ________ since his room is a disaster.
- When I failed the test, he stopped talking to me, proving he was just a ________.
- He cried ________ after getting caught breaking the rule, but he was not truly sorry.
- Everyone realized he was being totally ________ when he praised the artwork he secretly disliked.
- He put an act of being polite whenever the teacher walked into the room.
- He wore a mask of kindness to ________ into liking him.
- Do not let his nice ________ fool you.
- Do not try to ________ your broken promise with nice words.
- He got caught ________ of the argument during the club debate.
- He paid ________ to helping clean the yard, but never picked up a rake.
Answer Key
- wolf in sheep’s clothing
- walk the walk
- practice what you preach
- two-faced
- speaking out of both sides of his mouth
- pot calling the kettle black
- fair-weather friend
- crocodile tears
- phony
- putting on
- trick people
- facade
- sugarcoat
- playing both sides
- lip service
Conclusion
Learning these idioms about hypocrisy helps make expressing insincerity and fake behavior much easier to spot. When you use these expressions, you can discuss honesty and character in a clear way. Try using some of these phrases when discussing character behavior in stories at school. You will sound like a language expert while making your everyday conversations wonderfully thoughtful!
