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hippocrite

/ˈhɪpəʊkraɪt/

A hypocritical person, humorously imagined as a hippo

From Greek hippo (horse) + Greek hypo- (under).

noun
hippo
Ancient Greek
ἵππος (híppos)
“Horse”; the first element in hippopotamus, “river horse”
English, modern combining form
hippo-
A playful shortening referring to a hippopotamus
hypo-
Ancient Greek
ὑπό (hypó)
“Under” or “beneath”; in hypocrite, figuratively associated with an underlying or concealed reality
Late Latin
hypocrita
A hypocrite or pretender, transmitted through Christian Latin
-crite
Ancient Greek
κριτής (kritḗs)
“Judge” or “interpreter,” from a verb meaning “to distinguish, judge”
Late Latin
hypocrita
The judging or interpreting element was absorbed into the Greek-derived word for a pretender
Combined
hippo + hypocrite → hippocrite
A modern humorous blend: hippo replaces the opening hypo- of hypocrite, producing a word for a hypocritical hippopotamus or an overweight hypocrite.
Contemporary English, internet slang
hippocrite
A jocular nonce word attested in Urban Dictionary for an overweight person who criticizes other overweight people, or a hypocritical hippo
Modern English
hippocrite
“

This word is a linguistic pratfall: take hypocrite, swap its opening hypo- for hippo-, and suddenly moral pretense acquires a large, mud-loving mammal. The joke works because hippo comes from Greek híppos, “horse,” while hippopotamus literally means “river horse”—a surprisingly elegant name for an animal that spends much of its day looking like a submerged boulder. Hypocrite itself entered English around 1200, originally describing the sin of pretending to virtue, and its Greek ancestry once pointed toward an actor or interpreter performing a role. Urban Dictionary records hippocrite as a playful insult for an overweight person who condemns other overweight people, as well as for a supposedly hypocritical hippo. Remember the image: a river horse standing on a moral soapbox, scolding everyone else for being large.

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