GRE Words for Dishonesty: Etymology and Memory Hooks
Learn the GRE's favorite deception words — mendacious, duplicitous, dissemble, specious, disingenuous — through their Latin roots and a hook for each.
2026-06-01 · 7 min read
A theme the GRE keeps returning to
Deception, falseness, and two-facedness come up again and again in GRE passages and sentences. These words shade differently — some mean outright lying, others mean misleading appearances — so learning the nuances together keeps you from picking a near-synonym that is slightly off.
Outright lying
Mendacious (untruthful, lying). From Latin mendax, "lying," related to mendum, "fault or defect." Hook: a mendacious person "mends" the truth into something false — or think of a "men-dacious" liar who is always "amending" facts.
Duplicitous (deceitful; two-faced). From Latin duplex, "twofold." A duplicitous person presents two faces. Hook: duplic- = duplicate; they keep a second, hidden self.
Misleading appearances
Dissemble (to hide one's true feelings or motives). From Latin dissimulare, "to disguise," dis- + simulare, "to simulate." Hook: dissemble = the opposite of "assemble the truth"; you take it apart and hide it.
Specious (superficially plausible but actually false). From Latin speciosus, "good-looking," from species, "appearance." A specious argument looks good on the surface. Hook: specious = "special-looking" but hollow inside.
Disingenuous (not candid; pretending to be unaware). From dis- + ingenuous (Latin ingenuus, "frank, freeborn"). Hook: ingenuous means sincere, so disingenuous is its negation — fake sincerity.
Telling them apart on the GRE
Mendacious and duplicitous involve active dishonesty; specious describes a false thing that merely looks true; dissemble is the act of hiding feelings; disingenuous is feigned innocence or candor. Sentence Equivalence often pairs "specious" with "spurious," and "disingenuous" with "insincere."
Verbloom drills these inside sentences so you feel the difference between lying outright and merely seeming true — the distinction the GRE tests.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between specious and mendacious?
Specious describes something that looks true but is false (often an argument); mendacious describes a person or statement that is actively lying. One is about misleading appearance, the other about intent to deceive.
Does disingenuous mean the same as dishonest?
Close, but disingenuous specifically means pretending to be sincere or unaware — feigned candor — rather than telling an outright lie.
What is dissemble's opposite?
To be candid or open. Dissemble means to conceal your true feelings or motives, so being forthright is its antonym.
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