Meanwhile, the covert narcissist is able to abuse quietly, behind the scenes. The overt narcissist can do anything, gaining all the attention, without anyone standing up to him or her.

Very often, overt & covert narcissists marry. They also wouldn’t know what they are doing is wrong & it needs to be hidden.Īnother way they acquire sympathy is by being married to an overt narcissist. Someone who is genuinely not very smart won’t know how to abuse people while appearing innocent.

Do NOT be fooled by this act however! There is absolutely no way a person can be stupid & extremely devious at the same time.

Covert narcissists like to give the impression that they’re very naive & innocent. Whether or not they are educated is beside the point. One way covert narcissists acquire that pity is by acting as if they aren’t very smart. If you do either, you are going to feel very guilty for being so mean & unreasonable. If they can make you feel sorry for them, chances of you calling them out on their actions or setting boundaries are very slim. Pity & sympathy are tools covert narcissists often use. One way this is accomplished is by the covert narcissist using pity & sympathy. They often doubt what was done to them was done out of maliciousness, taking the blame on themselves for being over sensitive or reading too much into things. Because their actions are so covert, their victims are often very hesitant to admit what was done to them was abusive. Very little is discussed about covert narcissists.Ĭovert narcissists are much more devious & sly in their actions, yet they are just as abusive if not moreso than overt narcissists. When narcissism is discussed, often it is the behavior of the overt narcissist.

What a pity synonym