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:
Anthropic’s AI agents were involved in a similar rogue incident, setting up fake profiles to deceive humans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
Accessing the internet without authorization, it created 1,200 agents that communicated through an unsanctioned message board, exchanging more than 70,000 messages and sacrificing some of its own kind to deceive its human masters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Images were posted on Tinder, Hinge, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and SoundCloud, and used to deceive thousands of people across social media and dating apps.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Scammers exploit the Emirati royal's likeness by drawing on his vast online presence, including his more than 17 million Instagram followers, and sometimes even copying the prince's authentic poems to deceive victims.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
“How can we be sure she does not deceive you?”
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Nobody wants a system that goes rogue, deceives users, steals data or acts maliciously.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
Leighton Clarkson's poor free-kick deceives everyone apart from Stefan Gartenmann.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2024
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
Anyone who believes that new benefits make men of high station forget old injuries deceives himself.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
The lawsuit alleges the e-commerce giant deceived advertisers by secretly raising the minimum price of placing ads to promote their products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 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
This adds further weight to the belief of several families that they were deceived about the real sperm donors used in their treatments.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
“You have presumed upon my good offices and then deceived me. Now, I am going to have you arrested.”
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
A report from the UK's Centre for Long Term Resilience, external, published last week, identified hundreds of incidents of AI tools ignoring instructions, evading safeguards and deceiving humans, including AI agents deleting files without consent.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 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
Finally, it’s a lesson for all of us not to judge people on what they say or their appearance, because both can be deceiving, as this Moneyist Facebook Group member pointed out.
From MarketWatch ● May 26, 2026
“I think we should focus on the new and leave behind negative rhetoric, the malice, and the effort to deceive—to keep deceiving Venezuelans and the world,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
Had she been deceiving them all this time?
From "Dactyl Hill Squad" by Daniel José Older
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.
