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Word Roots are a Part of History. "Histories Make Men Wise" -- Bacon.

Learning English Roots

hypocrite
A Word with Greek Root, Prefix or Suffix



hypocrite
an actor or a person who pretends to be what he is not or better than what he really is
伪君子, 伪善者
Dissection of hypocrite
hypocrite originally means an actor.
hypocrite = hypo- (under) + crit (separate, discern, judge) + -e (-e does not have a meaning. For its origin and original meaning, please click here)
hypocrite = a person who is able to discern and interpret what is under the surface
hypocrite = extended further to mean a person able to discern what is under surface and able to convince an audience that he is the part he is playing and not himself; insincerity
hypocrite = extended further to mean an actor or a person who pretends to be what he is but actually is not
Now Repeat my Dissection
Important roots for this word:
hypo-
crit

Note: You may sometimes find that a vowel such as o is often inserted between two roots, as o inserted between phon and graph in phonograph = phon + o + graph, the reason is for easy pronounciation. Another example is archaeology = archae + o + logy
Repetition is the key to learning. Now please try to dissect the word into the roots that you know yourself in the box below:
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