Janus-faced

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Janus-faced \Ja"nus-faced`\, a.
     Double-faced; deceitful.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Janus-faced lock}, one having duplicate faces so as to go
        upon a right or a left hand door, the key entering on


        either side indifferently. --Knight.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  Janus-faced
       adj 1: having or concerned with polarities or contrasts; "a
              Janus-faced view of history"; "a Janus-faced policy"
       2: marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending
          one set of feelings and acting under the influence of
          another; "she was a deceitful scheming little thing"-
          Israel Zangwill; "a double-dealing double agent"; "a
          double-faced infernal traitor and schemer"- W.M.Thackeray
          [syn: {ambidextrous}, {deceitful}, {double-dealing}, {duplicitous},
           {two-faced}, {double-faced}, {double-tongued}]
       3: having two faces--one looking to the future and one to the
          past; "Janus the two-faced god" [syn: {two-faced}]