Library / English Dictionary

DISGUISE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of concealing the identity of something by modifying its appearance

Example:

he is a master of disguise

Synonyms:

camouflage; disguise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("disguise" is a kind of...):

concealing; concealment; hiding (the activity of keeping something secret)

Derivation:

disguise (make unrecognizable)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any attire that modifies the appearance in order to conceal the wearer's identity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("disguise" is a kind of...):

attire; dress; garb (clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disguise"):

fancy dress; masquerade; masquerade costume (a costume worn as a disguise at a masquerade party)

mask (a covering to disguise or conceal the face)

Derivation:

disguise (make unrecognizable)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An outward semblance that misrepresents the true nature of something

Example:

the theatrical notion of disguise is always associated with catastrophe in his stories

Synonyms:

camouflage; disguise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("disguise" is a kind of...):

color; colour; gloss; semblance (an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make unrecognizable

Example:

We disguised our faces before robbing the bank

Synonyms:

disguise; mask

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "disguise" is one way to...):

conceal; hide (prevent from being seen or discovered)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "disguise"):

cloak; dissemble; mask (hide under a false appearance)

dissimulate (hide (feelings) from other people)

masquerade (take part in a masquerade)

camouflage (disguise by camouflaging; exploit the natural surroundings to disguise something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They disguise themselves

Derivation:

disguise (the act of concealing the identity of something by modifying its appearance)

disguise (any attire that modifies the appearance in order to conceal the wearer's identity)

Credits

 Context examples: 

The disguise, equivocation, mystery, so hateful to her to practise, might soon be over.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

In the disguise of a workingman he had sat in the cabaret waiting for my appearance.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The wretch often disguises himself, but you will know him at once by his rough voice and his black feet.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

After a little bit his sobs ceased, and he raised himself with an apology, though he made no disguise of his emotion.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He snatched off the dark beard which had disguised him and threw it on the ground, disclosing a long, sallow, clean-shaven face below it.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had likewise learned, from his example, an utter detestation of all falsehood or disguise; and truth appeared so amiable to me, that I determined upon sacrificing every thing to it.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Open, candid, artless, guileless, with affections strong but simple, forming no pretensions, and knowing no disguise.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Burdened with the guilty consciousness of the sequestered tarts, and fearing that Dodo's sharp eyes would pierce the thin disguise of cambric and merino which hid their booty, the little sinners attached themselves to 'Dranpa', who hadn't his spectacles on.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

At the time he was lost in admiration at the deft way in which the jongleur disguised the loss of his two missing strings, and the lusty, hearty fashion in which he trolled out his little ballad of the outland bowmen.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It made me very uncomfortable to have him for a guest, for I was young then, and unused to disguise what I so strongly felt.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)