How to Use duplicity in a Sentence

duplicity

noun
  • He exposed the spy's duplicity.
  • Hughes told me that the scale of Phillips’s duplicity had surprised her.
    — Mike Spies, The New Yorker, 19 June 2019
  • There should be a higher political price to pay for this kind of duplicity, but there rarely is.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 14 Sep. 2017
  • No, his duplicity and shilling were on full display before, during and after his first term.
    — Chicago Tribune, 7 Mar. 2025
  • Molloy rages to his film crew, and Lestat’s duplicity plants a wedge between the vamps.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 23 June 2026
  • Britain’s largest police force, on the other hand, is presented as the height of duplicity.
    — Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 3 June 2026
  • Hamm’s character, via suave duplicity, is trying to stop them.
    — Sarah Larson, The New Yorker, 4 July 2022
  • But honesty doesn’t always save a career, and duplicity doesn’t always sink one.
    — Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 June 2026
  • The warlock’s pot stocked with hypocrisy calling the kettle brimming with duplicity black.
    — Nick Canepacolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 May 2022
  • Cooper lives for this duplicity, and that smirk is his truest declaration.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2024
  • Such duplicity, among governments across the globe, was routine.
    — Fred Pearce, Time, 22 May 2018
  • There is a deep dichotomy, a deep duplicity in the human condition.
    — The Washington Post, The Mercury News, 16 June 2019
  • Theories on why the two architects split range from duplicity to romance.
    — Coastmag, Orange County Register, 3 Mar. 2017
  • Some accused Liu of duplicity when dealing with fans in China.
    — Washington Post, 9 Feb. 2022
  • There are no traces of guile, cynicism, arrogance or duplicity.
    — John T. Shaw, Chicago Tribune, 25 Aug. 2025
  • Her silent duplicity toward Needy—in effect, her gaslighting of Needy—is a matter of life and death.
    — Richard Brod, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2021
  • Jack, meanwhile, has been stewing about Charmaine's duplicity for the whole episode and angrily shows up at her house to talk.
    — Sara Netzley, EW.com, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Perhaps that’s a sad statement on the abiding nature of duplicity on Wall Street.
    — New York Times, 9 May 2018
  • The point is not to break relations with Pakistan but to demonstrate that its duplicity will no longer be rewarded.
    — Trudy Rubin, Philly.com, 12 Aug. 2017
  • What emerges from filings, public records and interviews are the contours of a life layered with duplicity and mystery.
    — Matt Hamilton, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2024
  • When Bendiksen got to Perpignan, his duplicity weighed on him.
    — Tom Simonite, Wired, 6 Oct. 2021
  • But the real job of political satire is to expose the hypocrisy, irony and duplicity of our political class.
    — Reader Commentary, Baltimore Sun, 17 Jan. 2024
  • The war has revealed the duplicity of the great powers in dealing with identical things in two different countries.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 21 Jan. 2024
  • And none of this is to say that the Dems’ duplicity is the fault of the Democratic Party or white people.
    — Michael Harriot, The Root, 23 Jan. 2018
  • But for Wisner and his agency, duplicity and disinformation weren’t just tools to be used abroad.
    — Jason Linkins, The New Republic, 7 Aug. 2021
  • But for Wisner and his agency, duplicity and disinformation weren’t just tools to be used abroad.
    — Greg Barnhisel, The New Republic, 3 Sep. 2020
  • In his work, Wilde considered the question of whether such duplicity added to the sum of his personality or split it in two.
    — The New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2021
  • Early Christians deemed face paint suspect, a mark of duplicity, and for centuries unadorned beauty was prized.
    — New York Times, 7 May 2021
  • Yun-ji’s public confession reveals Chang-ho’s duplicity and allows Noori a chance to shine on its own.
    — Kayti Burt, Time, 29 May 2026
  • For some, the implications of duplicity and obscured identity in the line could well apply to its author—and thereby hangs a tale.
    — Gitanjali Roy, Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'duplicity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: