From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdisguisedis‧guise1 /dɪsˈɡaɪz/ ●●○ verb [transitive] 1 HIDE/MAKE IT HARD TO FIND OR SEEto change someone’s appearance so that people cannot recognize themdisguise yourself as somebody/something Maybe you could disguise yourself as a waiter and sneak in there. He escaped across the border disguised as a priest.► see thesaurus at hide2 HIDE/MAKE IT HARD TO FIND OR SEEto change the appearance, sound, taste etc of something so that people do not recognize it There’s no way you can disguise that southern accent.disguise something as something a letter bomb disguised as a musical greetings card3 HIDE/NOT SHOWto hide a fact or feeling so that people will not notice it Try as he might, Dan couldn’t disguise his feelings for Katie.disguise the fact (that) There’s no disguising the fact that business is bad. The speech was seen by many as a thinly disguised attack on the president.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
disguise• The FBI say the hijackers were very likely to have been disguised.• He spent several years in the monastery disguised as a monk.• And then the genie told him about the magician disguised as the holy woman.• She managed to get into the camp by disguising herself as a soldier.• The robber was wearing a paper bag over his head to disguise his face.• Larry couldn't disguise his satisfaction at seeing his competitor go out of business.• Their Walkpersons are in actuality radar sensors cleverly disguised, I theorize.• No amount of expensive television advertising can disguise that.• Myriad receptions and reunions could not disguise the bleak prospects for job hunters.• With horrible political insight they found a way to disguise the thing.• The park's waterfalls disguise the traffic noise from the freeway.• The men had disguised the vessel as fishing boat to escape.• But what is striking now is that neither side seems bothered about disguising those differences.• Dexter admired the way in which his boss disguised who she was really interested in.• Do not disguise your intentions in order to achieve your own ends as doing this only feeds the negativity within you.disguise yourself as somebody/something• In May 1528, while Angus was away, James disguised himself as a groom and made a dash for Stirling.• He imagined a monster who disguised himself as a kid to attack an earthling.• Brin Weare fooled the enemy by disguising himself as a priest.• To get into the building, I disguised myself as a reporter.• It does this by disguising itself as an aphid, in order to avoid being detected by the ants.• If that happens the aliens will be able to disguise themselves as humans and invade Earth.disguise something as something• Well, it may be hard to disguise junk as health food.thinly disguised• Both, however, were under external threat from barbarians more or less thinly disguised.• Hardly compatible with discretion, that I should ride to the Palace in so thinly disguised a vehicle.• Almost all his climbs have a certain something: a thinly disguised air of intimidation often allied to a raw brutality.• Mostly they turned out to be thinly disguised candidate ads, a violation of the spirit of the law at best.• Integrity is vital but in all types of organisations including schools there are examples of thinly disguised contempt for customers and consumers.• This was a thinly disguised device designed to give Harleston the opportunity to ease Jeffries out painlessly and to find a replacement.• In most firms, top management incentives are thinly disguised executive perks: not in Hanson.• His thinly disguised hatred of rock-n-roll had made him an unpopular journalist.• I should hate to give the impression that my love for you is but thinly disguised lust.disguisedisguise2 ●●○ noun 1 [countable, uncountable]HIDE/MAKE IT HARD TO FIND OR SEE something that you wear to change your appearance and hide who you are, or the act of wearing this His disguise didn’t fool anyone. She wore dark glasses in an absurd attempt at disguise.2 → in disguise → blessing in disguise at blessing(4)Examples from the Corpus
disguise• Morning comes, and Blue starts busying himself with another disguise.• Friends gave us long robes and veils for disguise.• But it was a good disguise, he told himself.• The crash was a blessing in disguise for Schwab.• The major problem is that it is just another irresponsible tax cut in disguise that would mostly benefit rich folks like Forbes.• Luther was the devil in disguise.• The peddler in disguise showed Snow White her beautiful, colorful laces.• He went across in a variety of disguises, or sent emissaries, and negotiated the price.• Inevitably though, these disguises inspired in readers a sense of vicarious danger or disgust.• The army does not officially admit that it uses disguises.Origin disguise1 (1300-1400) Old French desguiser, from guise “appearance” 