Janus-faced

American  

[jey-nuhs-feyst] / ˈdʒeɪ nəsˌfeɪst /

adjective

1. having two faces, one looking forward, one looking backward, as the Roman deity Janus.

2. having two contrasting aspects, as the alternation of mood in a capricious person.

3. two-faced; deceitful.

4. aware of or concerned with polarities; seeing different and contrasting aspects.

   a Janus-faced view of history.

5. having or containing contrasting characteristics.

   a Janus-faced policy.

---

Janus-faced British  

adjective

1. two-faced; hypocritical; deceitful

---

Etymology

Origin of Janus-faced

First recorded in 1675–85; Janus ( def. ) + faced ( def. )

Example Sentences

Every renaissance is Janus-faced, he notes, looking “backward and forward at the same time.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 27, 2025

“The State cannot be allowed to take a Janus-faced position — wholeheartedly proffering David’s allegations of abuse on the State’s criminal proceedings, while disavowing or discrediting those same allegations in David’s civil action,” they wrote.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 12, 2024

It illuminates not just Lincoln's Janus-faced character, but the much broader story of humankind's complex relationship with the animal world.

From Salon • Jun. 4, 2023

It’s a Janus-faced probe of two opposite things at once.

From Slate • Jan. 22, 2020

Our understanding of facts is thus Janus-faced: at one moment we regard them as things, reality itself; at the next they are true beliefs, statements about reality.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton