deceptive

American  

[dih-sep-tiv] / dɪˈsɛp tɪv /

adjective

1. apt or tending to deceive.

   The enemy's peaceful overtures may be deceptive.

   Synonyms:

   specious, fallacious, delusive

2. perceptually misleading.

   It looks like a curved line, but it's deceptive.

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deceptive British  

/ dɪˈsɛptɪv /

adjective

1. likely or designed to deceive; misleading

   appearances can be deceptive

2. music (of a cadence) another word for interrupted

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Usage

What does deceptive mean? Deceptive means intended to or tending to deceive—to lie, mislead, or otherwise hide or distort the truth. Deceptive is typically used to describe an action or something that deceives or is intended to deceive, as in deceptive business practices. The related noun deception refers to the act or practice of deceiving or being deceptive. Being deceptive 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 deceptive. The word deceitful often means the same thing but is more likely to be used to describe a person, whereas deceptive is more commonly applied to actions and practices. Deceptive can also be used to describe things that are naturally or innocently misleading to one’s perception (without someone doing the deceiving). This sense of the word is especially used in its adverb form—for example, something might be called deceptively small because it looks bigger than it is. The adjective deceiving means the same thing. Example: The report was widely criticized for being deceptive by intentionally omitting crucial pieces of information.

Other Word Forms

• deceptively adverb
• deceptiveness noun
• nondeceptive adjective
• nondeceptiveness noun
• undeceptive adjective
• undeceptiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of deceptive

First recorded in 1605–15; from Medieval Latin dēceptīvus, equivalent to Latin dēcept(us) “deceived” ( deception ) + -īvus -ive

Explanation

Something that's deceptive is not what it seems. A deceptive person will lead you to believe something other than the truth. Of course, I would never be deceptive when explaining the word deceptive. If someone tells you that “appearances can be deceptive,” they mean you should look closely at your surroundings because the truth might not be obvious. You might see a connection between the verb to deceive and the adjective deceptive, so you are on to something. If you deceive someone, you are being deceptive. Is it ok to be deceptive when you're planning a surprise party?

Example Sentences

Claude maker Anthropic attacked the company’s ads test in ChatGPT with a Super Bowl commercial that Altman called “funny” but deceptive.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

Any ebbing of drone strikes could be deceptive, with Iran amassing them for another swarming assault.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2026

The airline engaged in "misleading or deceptive conduct" over the rights of customers over their cancelled flights in violation of Australian law, Echo Law said.

From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026

The commission also said that X's breaches included the deceptive design of its "blue checkmark" for supposedly verified accounts, and its failure to provide access to public data for researchers.

From Barron's • Feb. 20, 2026

In fact, each interpretation was true, in the sense that adherents of the different positions—and dozens more—existed in that churning and heterogeneous group known, with deceptive simplicity, as black America.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Related Words

• ambiguous
• deceitful
• disingenuous
• false
• fraudulent
• misleading
• slick
• sneaky
• subtle
• tricky
• underhanded
• unreliable