tartuffe

[tahr-toof, -toof, tar-tyf] / tɑrˈtʊf, -ˈtuf, tarˈtüf /

NOUN

hypocrite

Synonyms

STRONGEST

deceiver hypocrite pretender

STRONG

actor backslider bigot bluffer casuist charlatan cheat crook decoy dissembler dissimulator fake faker four-flusher fraud humbug impostor informer malingerer masquerader mountebank pharisee phony playactor poser quack smoothie sophist swindler trickster two-timer

WEAK

attitudinizer con artist lip server two-face wolf in sheep's clothing

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Ncuti Gatwa performs as Valere in Tartuffe in 2012.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026

In the nominally central roles of Tartuffe and Orgon, Mr. Broderick and Mr. Cross are both oddly subdued.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2025

Tartuffe is the embodiment of the master con artist — a pretentious person who fakes religious devoutness, convincing a benefactor that he is a moral person.

From Salon • Mar. 6, 2024

But his diamond-hard intelligence was immediately identifiable even when he was playing a character as willfully obtuse as Orgon in Moliere's "Tartuffe," which he magisterially performed on Broadway in 2003.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2016

Then he had her memorize a page from Molière’s Le Tartuffe and its English translation.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith