deceitful
Americanadjective
Usage
What does deceitful mean? Deceitful means intended to or tending to deceive—to lie, mislead, or otherwise hide or distort the truth.The noun deceit most commonly refers to the act or practice of deceiving, but it can also refer to the quality of someone or something that deceives. A deceitful person can be said to be full of deceit.Deceitful can describe people, their actions, or something that deceives or is intended to deceive, as in It was a deceitful plan from the beginning. The word deceptive has a very similar meaning, but it’s typically applied to actions or practices, as in deceptive business practices.Being deceitful doesn’t just involve lying. It can consist of misrepresenting or omitting the truth or more complicated cover-ups. Anything that involves intentionally misleading someone is deceitful.Words like deceit and deceitful often imply a pattern of behavior, rather than a one-time act.Example: I’m sick of how deceitful you are—I can’t trust anything you say!
Other Word Forms
- deceitfully adverb
- deceitfulness noun
- undeceitful adjective
Etymology
Origin of deceitful
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; deceit + -ful
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And it’s gone along on the same trajectory with deceitful disclosures.
From Slate • Feb. 4, 2026
He defined the domestic cat, for instance, as “a deceitful animal, and when enraged, extremely spiteful.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
“May today’s sentencing deter anyone who seeks to greedily profit off their clients through deceitful practices,” Raia said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025
The network added that their transcripts and video "show – consistent with 60 Minutes' repeated assurances to the public – that the 60 Minutes broadcast was not doctored or deceitful."
From Salon • Feb. 6, 2025
But sometimes he slipped back into the habits of his earlier life, when he had been a sly and deceitful boy in order to survive.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
