deceive
/dɪˈsiːv
/verb [with object]
1Deliberately cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, especially for personal gain: I didn’t intend to deceive people into thinking it was French champagne...
- Make a list of who told you what, and determine if anyone has something to gain by deceiving you.
- The campaign, launched by the Office of Fair Trading, aims to draw attention to unscrupulous holiday clubs that deliberately deceive consumers and pressurise them into membership.
- Whatever goodwill Tom might have toward the situation will surely evaporate should he find out that she has been deliberately deceiving him.
Synonyms
swindle, defraud, cheat, trick, hoodwink, hoax, dupe, take in, mislead, delude, fool, outwit, misguide, lead on, inveigle, seduce, ensnare, entrap, beguile, double-cross, gull
informal con, bamboozle, do, sting, gyp, diddle, fiddle, swizzle, rip off, shaft, bilk, rook, pull a fast one on, pull someone's leg, take for a ride, pull the wool over someone's eyes, throw dust in someone's eyes, put one over on, sell a pup to, take to the cleaners
North American informal sucker, snooker, stiff, euchre, bunco, hornswoggle
Australian informal pull a swifty on
archaic cozen, sharp
rare mulct
1.1(Of a thing) give (someone) a mistaken impression: the area may seem to offer nothing of interest, but don’t be deceived...
- For the first few minutes of the men's match, I thought my eyes were deceiving me - these were the fastest, most athletic soccer players I had ever seen.
- The fact that we stopped gabbling for 15 minutes says it all, and in the intervening week I've been tempted to hop in my car and drive for an hour and a half just to check that my tastebuds weren't deceiving me.
- I thought my eyes were deceiving me, as, in the far distance I spied what looked like rows of silver pods suspended against the dark hills.
1.2 (deceive oneself) Fail to admit to oneself that something is true: it was no use deceiving herself any longer—she loved him with all her heart...
- We then embarked on a three-hour conversation about the fabric of reality and the way we have deceived ourselves about the true nature of the world.
- Psychologist Ray Hyman provides a very telling example of how gurus and true believers can deceive themselves into believing what has been demonstrated to be false.
- Testimonials are not a substitute for scientific studies, which are done to make sure that we are not deceiving ourselves about what appears to be true.
1.3Be sexually unfaithful to (one’s regular partner): he had deceived her with another woman...
- Her partner deceives her, but she doesn't know it; her children fail, but she is told they succeed; she believes she has the admiration of others, but they laugh at her behind her back.
- He deceived his wife with at least two other women, one of whom became pregnant
- I didn't love my husband, but I never deceived him in that way. I'm not some sort of cheap woman.
Synonyms
be unfaithful to, be disloyal to, be untrue to, be inconstant to, cheat on, cheat, betray, break one's promise to, play someone false, fail, let down
informal two-time
Derivatives
deceivable
/ adjective ...- Certain features will remain constant: that we have vulnerable bodies, are mortal, are capable of acquiring new skills, that we are deceivable and vulnerable to duress.
- The writer of 1 Timothy notes that " woman was deceived,’ not ‘woman is deceivable.’
- The above brokers also push some local financial officials to find deceivable investors.
deceiver
/ noun ...- He said: ‘Elderly householders are vulnerable to plausible deceivers who create anxiety by claiming to observe defects in their houses and then offer to repair them.’
- The great deceiver had ultimately deceived himself.
- After all, deception only works when the would-be deceiver has a reputation for telling the truth.
Origin
Middle English: from Old French deceivre, from Latin decipere 'catch, ensnare, cheat'.