dissemble
/dɪˈsɛmbəl/
"dissemble" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dissemble” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a verb - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To disguise or conceal something.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dissemble |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈsɛmbəl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dissemble” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dissemble is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈsɛmbəl/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
dissemble doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in the beginning of the 15th century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English dissemblen, dissimblen, dissemelen, borrowed from Old French dessambler, dissembler, disembler, itself borrowed from Latin dissimulō and modified after sem… The correct English form is dissemble, spelled D-I-S-S-E-M-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1To disguise or conceal something.
- 2To feign, dissimulate.
- 3To deliberately ignore something; to pretend not to notice.
- 4To falsely hide one's opinions or feelings.
Etymology
First attested in the beginning of the 15th century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English dissemblen, dissimblen, dissemelen, borrowed from Old French dessambler, dissembler, disembler, itself borrowed from Latin dissimulō and modified after sembler, semblance, etc. Doublet of dissimulate, dissimilate, and dissimule.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “dissemble”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-S-S-E-M-B-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈsɛmbəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.