ˈtwo-faced, a.
(-feɪst)
1. Having two faces: = double-faced 1.
| 1659 T. Pecke Parnassi Puerp. 160 Janus..The Two-fac'd God. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot. s.v., Two-faced leaves. 1861 J. G. Sheppard Fall of Rome i. 13 January presents itself under the influence of the ‘Two-faced Janus’. |
2. fig. Deceitful, insincere: = double-faced 2.
| a 1619 Fletcher, etc. Q. Corinth iii. ii, Who can trust The gentle looks and words of two-faced man? 1720 Welton Suffer. Son of God II. xiv. 364 People, who, in Private..approve of the principles of Religion, but act the Libertine in the Face of the World... These loose and Two-fac'd Christians. 1864 in J. H. Newman Apol. v. 429 Two-faced persons, who did not go simply and straightforwardly to work. |
Hence two-facedness.
| 1882 in Jamieson's Sc. Dict. IV. 647. 1889 Talmage Serm. in Voice (N.Y.) 10 Oct., What subterfuge, what double-dealing, what two-facedness. |