Definition of "disingenuous" []

• Not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating: "an ambitious, disingenuous, philistine, and hypocritical operator, who ... exemplified ... the most disagreeable traits of his time” ( David Cannadine). (adjective)
• Pretending to be unaware or unsophisticated; faux-naïf. (adjective)
• Usage Problem Unaware or uninformed; naive. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The entire process is intellectually disingenuous from the outset."
• "I think, Josh, it's plain disingenuous to call COLAs "raises.""
• "Maybe he needs to find a dictionary and look up the word disingenuous next."