deceive
Americanverb (used with object)
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deceives,
present (3rd person singular)
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deceived,
past participle, past
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deceiving
present participle
verb (used without object)
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deceives,
present (3rd person singular)
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deceived,
past participle, past
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deceiving
present participle
verb
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to mislead by deliberate misrepresentation or lies
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to delude (oneself)
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to be unfaithful to (one's sexual partner)
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archaic to disappoint
his hopes were deceived
Usage
What does deceive mean? Deceive means to lie, mislead, or otherwise hide or distort the truth. The act or practice of deceiving can be called deceit or deception. Lying is only one way of deceiving. Deceiving can consist of misrepresenting or omitting the truth or more complicated cover-ups. People can even deceive themselves by avoiding the truth. The adjectives deceptive and deceitful can describe something that deceives or is intended to deceive. Someone who is known for deceiving others can be described as deceitful. Someone who is easily deceived can be described as deceivable. Sometimes, the word deceive can be used in the context of things that are naturally or innocently misleading to one’s perception (without someone doing the deceiving), as in Do my eyes deceive me? The adjective deceiving can be used in this sense, as in Looks can be deceiving. Example: A lot of advertising is intended to deceive us into thinking we need something.
Synonym Usage
See cheat.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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deceivabilitynoun
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deceivablenessnoun
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deceivernoun
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deceivingnoun
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interdeceiveverb
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predeceiveverb (used with object)
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redeceiveverb (used with object)
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deceivableadjective
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nondeceivingadjective
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well-deceivedadjective
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deceivablyadverb
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deceivinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deceivesimple
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deceivessimple
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have deceivedperfect
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has deceivedperfect
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am deceivingprogressive
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are deceivingprogressive
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is deceivingprogressive
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have been deceivingperfect progressive
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has been deceivingperfect progressive
Past
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deceivedsimple
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had deceivedperfect
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was deceivingprogressive
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were deceivingprogressive
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had been deceivingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deceive
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English deceiven, from Old French deceivre, from Latin dēcipere, literally, “to ensnare,” equivalent to dē- de- + -cipere, combining form of capere “to take”
Explanation
To deceive means to trick or lie. A crafty kid might deceive his mother into thinking he has a fever by holding the thermometer to a light bulb to increase the temperature. Deceive is the trickier cousin of lie. You might lie about why you were late to school. But if you simply don't explain to your mom that you were late in the first place, you are deceiving her. Deceive carries with it a feeling of both craftiness and betrayal. When you deceive someone, forgiveness can be hard to come by. Have you heard of the spelling rule, "i before e except after c" that has so many exceptions? Well, deceive follows that rule.
Vocabulary lists containing deceive
May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Words
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date That Will Live In Infamy" (1941)
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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.
See Examples For:
An assortment of politicians and watchdog groups have expressed concern about campaigns using generative AI to produce deepfakes – synthetic videos showing people doing things they did not do – that might deceive voters.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026
Well, either he didn't get his own memo or he deliberately chose to deceive people.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Your eyes don’t deceive you, he appears measurably improved.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
Suppose future AI agents learn how to specifically deceive you.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
“Don’t try to deceive me, Ugarte, ” said Louis. defense.
From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner
In December 2025, the European Commission said the platform "deceives users" by allowing people to pay for a blue verified check mark, because it is not "meaningfully verifying" who is behind the account.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Nobody wants a system that goes rogue, deceives users, steals data or acts maliciously.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
In the second complaint, the state argued that the app deceives consumers into believing their sensitive and personal information is secure.
From Washington Times ● Nov. 29, 2023
A separate complaint from Rokita argues the app has users’ sensitive and personal information but deceives consumers into believing that information is secure.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2022
I will be the proverbial parent who deceives the child by offering medicine laced with sweet syrup.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
The Federal Trade Commission sued Amazon.com on Monday, alleging the e-commerce giant deceived advertisers by secretly raising the minimum price they had to pay to place ads promoting their products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
The lawsuit, joined by a bipartisan group of more than 20 state attorneys general, alleged that Amazon deceived advertisers by secretly raising the minimum price advertisers had to pay to place ads promoting their products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026
Besides the painful consequences for deceived buyers, code enforcement has the limitation of due process, Bostwick said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
As it turns out, I’m hardly the only person to have felt hoodwinked, bamboozled, and/or flat-out deceived by my smartphone’s forecasts in 2026.
From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026
But Mary Poppins was not deceived by it.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
“It can be pretty deceiving until you’re out there and realize how strong the rip currents actually are.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Their worries — AI systems deceiving their creators, bootstrapping their own code, or launching autonomous cyberattacks — show up in scientific literature.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
Two days after his incident with Santana, Caballero was called for a pitch-clock violation when umpires deemed that he was attempting to circumvent the rules by deceiving the pitcher.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
At some point in childhood, through one classic fable or another, most of us absorb the lesson that looks can be deceiving.
From Slate ● Jul. 8, 2026
During the conversations after meals, which usually went on for more than an hour, he complained that his partners were deceiving him.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
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.
