1.
duplicity; two-facedness; disloyalty
having hidden intentions or being disloyal to someone while pretending loyalty
二心のない人間だ。
He is a person without duplicity.
彼には二心があるようだ。
It seems he has hidden intentions.
二心を抱いて仕えることはできない。
One cannot serve with a disloyal heart.
二心 describes the state of harboring secret intentions while outwardly showing loyalty. It carries a strongly negative connotation of betrayal or disloyalty.
ETYMOLOGY:
From 二 (two) + 心 (heart/mind), literally "two hearts" — having divided loyalties.
COMMON PATTERNS:
- 二心がない: to be without duplicity, to be sincere
- 二心なく: without reservation, wholeheartedly
- 二心を抱く: to harbor disloyalty
REGISTER:
A literary, somewhat old-fashioned word. More commonly encountered in historical dramas, period fiction, and formal contexts than in everyday conversation.
CONTRAST:
- 一心: single-mindedness, wholehearted devotion (opposite meaning)
- 裏切り: betrayal, treachery (more common everyday word)
- 二心: same kanji but literary on'yomi reading