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Hypocrisy is the act of pretending to have morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice. The word derives from the late Latin hypocrisis and Greek hupokrisis both meaning play-acting or pretence. The word is arguably derived from hypo- meaning under, + krinein meaning to decide/to dispute.
A classic example of a hypocritical act is to criticize others for carrying out some action while carrying out the same action oneself. Some people believe that most people, if not all, are hypocrites; they tend to criticize what they perceive to be bad behaviour in others, yet will justify it when they are inclined to peform the same action. This form of hypocrisy is closely related to the fundamental attribution error, a well-studied phenomenon of human psychology: individuals are more likely to explain their own actions by their environment, yet they attribute the actions of others to 'innate characteristics', thus leading towards judging others while justifying ones' own actions.
Hypocrisy is a relative term, and its meaning depends on ones' moral beliefs. For instance, moral relativists often see moral absolutists as hypocrites when they follow the detail of certain prescribed moral codes while neglecting to follow the underlying ideas behind these moral codes. Similarly, absolutists view relative morality as inherently hypocritical because the rules are not always to be adhered to absolutely.
What may not be Hypocrisy
Some people sincerely regret that they cannot overcome temptation over some harmful behaviour. An example is someone who says something like, “Please never start smoking. I wish I could stop." Also some people genuinely fail to recognize that they have character faults which they condemn in others. This is called psychological projection. This is self-deception rather than deliberate deception of other people. People understand well vices which they are struggling to overcome or have overcome in the past. Efforts to get other people to overcome such vices may be sincere. There may be an element of hypocrisy as well if the actors do not readily admit how far they are or have been subject to these vices.
Christian Origin
A passage from the Christian Gospel of Matthew is often cited as the typical example of the hypocrite: "Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye" Matthew 7:5. The passage means that it would be ridiculous to help someone remove a splinter or a piece of sawdust from their own eye, if you yourself had an entire log in yours and hadn't first tried to remove it (i.e. attempt to resolve your own flaw). See the Discourse on judgementalism.