Word family noun deceit deceiver deception adjective deceitful deceptive verb deceive adverb deceptively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdeceivede‧ceive /dɪˈsiːv/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 1 TRICK/DECEIVEto make someone believe something that is not true → deception He had been deceived by a young man claiming to be the son of a millionaire.deceive somebody into doing something He tried to deceive the public into thinking the war could still be won.deceive somebody about something I wouldn’t deceive you about anything as important as this.RegisterIn everyday English, people usually say trick rather than deceive: She thought they were trying to trick her.2 → deceive yourself3 SURPRISEDto give someone a wrong belief or opinion about something Don’t be deceived by the new cover – this is a rehash of old hits. —deceiver noun [countable]THESAURUSdeceive especially written to make someone who trusts you believe something that is not trueThis was a deliberate attempt to deceive the public.trick to make someone believe something that is not true, in order to get something from them or make them do somethingA man posing as an insurance agent had tricked her out of thousands of dollars.fool to make someone believe something that is not true by using a clever but simple trickHis hairpiece doesn’t fool anyone.mislead to make people believe something that is not true, by deliberately not giving them all the facts, or by saying something that is only partly trueThe company was accused of misleading customers about the nutritional value of the product.dupe informal to trick or deceive someone, especially so that they become involved in someone else’s dishonest activity without realizing itThe spies duped government and military officials alike.con informal to trick someone, especially by telling them something that is not trueI’m pretty good at judging people; I didn’t think he was trying to con me. → See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
deceive• Many children's lies are unplanned and not actually designed to deceive.• Those options are limited: shoot, kill, make love, deceive, ambush -- that sort of thing.• I have been badly deceived and robbed.• Kyl said voters had been deceived by supporters of the new bill.• All through the summer Paula was deceived her husband while she was seeing another man.• She deceives herself more than she deceives anyone else.• So mortals learned that it is not possible to get the better of Zeus or ever deceive him.• Thousands of home buyers were deceived into buying homes at inflated prices.• She looks up and smiles at him with a sophisticated, coy, deceiving smile.• This was a deliberate attempt to deceive the public.• I wouldn't deceive you about anything as important as this.• If you think that everyone is happy with the plan, you're deceiving yourself.deceive somebody into doing something• Thousands of home buyers were deceived into buying homes at inflated prices.From Longman Business Dictionarydeceivede‧ceive /dɪˈsiːv/ verb [transitive] to make someone believe something that is not true in order to get what you wantPostal officials have long deceived the public on how slow mail delivery really is.deceive somebody into somethingInvestors were deceived into thinking that their money would be protected.→ See Verb tableOrigin deceive (1200-1300) Old French deceivre, from Latin decipere 