deceive
verb/dɪˈsiːv/
Etymology From Middle English deceyven, from Anglo-Norman deceivre, from Latin dēcipiō (“to deceive; beguile; entrap”), from dē- (“from”) + capiō (“to seize”); see captive. Compare conceive, perceive, receive. Displaced native Old English beswīcan.
1
To trick or mislead.
- It feels painful to begin seeing clearly, that you’ve been deceived by the very people and institutions you trusted to guide you.
- I know—for Death, who comes for me From regions of the blest afar, Where there is nothing to deceive, Hath left his iron gate ajar, […]1829, Edgar Allan Poe, “Tamerlane”, in Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems:
1 more example
- Hungry for fame and the approval of rare-animal collector Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton), Darwin deceives the Captain and his crew into believing they can get enough booty to win the pirate competition by entering Polly in a science fair. So the pirates journey to London in cheerful, blinkered defiance of the Queen, a hotheaded schemer whose royal crest reads simply “I hate pirates.”2012 April 26, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Reviews: The Pirates! Band Of Misfits :”, in The Onion AV Club:
- Synonyms
- abuse, beglammer, counterfeit, deceive, dissemble, dissimulate, feign, jiff, lead astray, overreach, put on, spoof, sham, trick
- Derived terms
- deceivability, deceivable, deceivance, deceiver, deceivingly, deceivous, flatter to deceive, redeceive, self-deceive, undeceive, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive
- Related terms
- deception, deceptive, deceit, rip off, forge, gaslight, grift, deceiver, confidence trickster, fraudster
- Hyponyms
39 terms
bamboozle, beguile, bewile, chance, cheat, con, cozen, cross out, defraud, delude, dupe, fake out, falsify, flam, flimflam, fool, get, goof, gull, have, hoodwink, hornswoggle, humbug, hustle, lead on, lead someone up the garden path, lie, mislead, pull a fast one, pull the wool over somebody's eyes, put one over, sell someone a pup, slur, snooker, snow, swack up, swindle, take in, take for a ride