doubleness

American  

[duhb-uhl-nis] / ˈdʌb əl nɪs /

noun

1. the quality or condition of being double.

2. deception or dissimulation.

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Etymology

Origin of doubleness

Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; double, -ness

Example Sentences

That last sentence is typical of the book’s attempt to hold on to the statesman’s and city’s doubleness.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

But the seeds of it, I think, were in that very doubleness which made it so powerful.

From Salon • Mar. 17, 2022

As a man riddled with sympathy, riven with a nagging appreciation for all sides, he’s doomed to bewilderment, to irony, to a maddening sense of his own irreconcilable doubleness.

From Washington Post • Feb. 22, 2021

“But in Sarah’s play, Orpheus is a normal dude, a pretty immature one, and not super communicative — a frustrating boyfriend. I wanted to musicalize both his doubleness and that there’s something Eurydice can’t see.”

From New York Times • Jan. 31, 2020

It’s the matching bedspreads, the night tables, the lamps, the bureaus, the doubleness of everything in their room, that gives me this impression.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood