deceive
To trick or mislead.
Verb
- To trick or mislead.
- It feels painful to begin seeing clearly, that you’ve been deceived by the very people and institutions you trusted to guide you.
- I know—for Death, who comes for me From regions of the blest afar, Where there is nothing to deceive, Hath left his iron gate ajar, […] - 1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
- Hungry for fame and the approval of rare-animal collector Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton), Darwin deceives the Captain and his crew into believing they can get enough booty to win the pirate competition by entering...
Origin
From Middle English deceyven, from Anglo-Norman deceivre, from Latin dēcipiō (“to deceive; beguile; entrap”), from dē- (“from”) + capiō (“to seize”); see captive. Compare conceive, perceive, receive. Displaced native Old English beswīcan.
Forms
Synonyms
abuse beglammer counterfeit deceive dissemble dissimulate feign jiff lead astray overreach put on spoof sham trick
Hyponyms
bamboozle beguile bewile chance cheat con cozen cross out defraud delude dupe fake out falsify flam flimflam fool get goof gull have hoodwink hornswoggle humbug hustle
Related
deception deceptive deceit rip off forge gaslight grift deceiver confidence trickster fraudster
Derived
deceivability deceivable deceivance deceiver deceivingly deceivous flatter to deceive redeceive self-deceive undeceive what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive