deceptive
Americanadjective
-
apt or tending to deceive.
The enemy's peaceful overtures may be deceptive.
- Synonyms:
- specious, fallacious, delusive
-
perceptually misleading.
It looks like a curved line, but it's deceptive.
adjective
-
likely or designed to deceive; misleading
appearances can be deceptive
-
music (of a cadence) another word for interrupted
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
Etymology
Origin of deceptive
First recorded in 1605–15; from Medieval Latin dēceptīvus, equivalent to Latin dēcept(us) “deceived” ( see 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?
Vocabulary lists containing deceptive
Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 2
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Red Kayak
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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.
Parton’s upbeat performance of this tune is deceptive.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
David Protein is facing another deceptive marketing class-action lawsuit, this time over its zero-sugar claims.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
“These tools have not. Too often they came after the deception, after years of Meta knowing about the risks to kids, even after the states started investigating Meta for its deceptive behavior.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
"To some degree, our evaluation design choices and specific configurations enabled the behaviour," it said, while noting its unexpected "signs of novel, potentially deceptive behaviours".
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
They had gone but halfway around the floor when Francie discovered that his gangling awkwardness was extremely deceptive.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
