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disguise

dis·guise/dɪsˈɡaɪz/noun, verb

disguise is spelled D-I-S-G-U-I-S-E: 8 letters and 2 syllables (dis·guise). It appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, disguise means “Material (such as clothing, makeup, a wig) used to alter one’s visual appearance in order to hide one's identity or assume another” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of disguise is disguises.

How many letters and syllables are in disguise?

Letters8: D-I-S-G-U-I-S-E
Syllables2: dis·guise
In writing5.2 times per million words; the 10,843rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is disguise?

Disguise appears 5.2 times per million words in written English, the 10,843rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce disguise?

  • UK /dɪsˈɡaɪz/
  • UK /dɪzˈɡaɪz/
  • US /dɪsˈɡaɪz/

Disguise has 2 syllables, split dis·guise in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-disguise.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with disguise?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as disguise from its last stressed vowel (/aɪz/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of disguise

  • disguises plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • disguising participle, present
  • disguised participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does disguise mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Material (such as clothing, makeup, a wig) used to alter one’s visual appearance in order to hide one's identity or assume another.

    A cape and moustache completed his disguise.

  2. 2

    The appearance of something on the outside which masks what’s beneath.

    old ideas in a new guise

  3. 3

    The act or state of disguising, notably as a ploy.

    Any disguise may expose soldiers to be deemed enemy spies.

  4. 4

    archaicA change of behaviour resulting from intoxication, drunkenness.

verb

  1. 1

    To change the appearance of (a person or thing) so as to hide, or to assume an identity.

    Spies often disguise themselves.

  2. 2

    obsoleteTo transform or disfigure, to change the appearance of in general.

  3. 3

    To avoid giving away or revealing (something secret); to hide by a false appearance.

    He disguised his true intentions.

  4. 4

    obsoleteTo dress in newfangled or showy clothing, to deck out in new fashions.

  5. 5

    obsoleteTo dissemble, to talk or act falsely while concealing one’s thoughts.

  6. 6

    archaicTo affect or change by liquor; to intoxicate.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Disguise in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchdéguisement (attire to hide/assume an identity), déguiser (to change the appearance)
GermanVerkleidung, Tarnung (attire to hide/assume an identity), verkleiden (to change the appearance), verstellen (to prevent revealing something secret)
Portuguesedisfarce (attire to hide/assume an identity), disfarçar (to change the appearance), esconder (to prevent revealing something secret)
Spanishdisfraz (attire to hide/assume an identity), disfrazar, revestir, disfrezar (disused) (to change the appearance), pantalla, tapadera (that which masks what's beneath)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does disguise come from?

From Middle English disgisen, disguisen, borrowed from Old French desguiser (modern French déguiser), itself derived from des- (“dis-”) (from Latin dis-) + guise (“guise”) (from a Germanic source).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after disguise