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deceive

/dɪˈsiːv//dɪˈsiːv/·verb
to make someone believe something that is not true
Fig. 1 — I watch the ball go under the left cup — I saw it clearly, I'm certain.
01Definition

To deceive is to lead someone into a false belief, whether by an outright lie or by a misleading appearance. It is deliberate, which separates it from an honest mistake. A skilled liar deceives less by bold claims than by a subtle, plausible surface that leads you to infer the wrong thing on your own. From the Latin decipere, 'to ensnare', the word keeps that sense of a trap: the victim walks into the false belief willingly.

02In use
  • iAdvertisers deceive most effectively when they never distort the image itself, only the impression it leaves.
  • iiShe felt deceived only once she could discern how the figures had quietly been rearranged.
  • iiiDo not let a confident manner deceive you into trusting an unproven claim.
03Collocations
  • deceive the public
  • be deceived by appearances
  • deceive yourself
  • deliberately deceive
  • easily deceived

Family deception (noun) · deceptive (adjective) · deceit (noun)

04Relations

=mislead, dupe, delude, trick, beguile

≠enlighten, undeceive

06TOEFL & IELTS

Useful for argument and media-literacy essays. Spelling follows the 'e before i after c' pattern (deceive, receive). Watch the family: the verb is deceive, the noun deceit or deception, the adjective deceptive — exams often test the right form.

07Asked
What is the difference between deceive, mislead, and lie?
They differ by method. To lie is to state something you believe false. To mislead is to steer someone wrong, sometimes with literally true words carefully arranged. To deceive is the goal all three serve: to plant a false belief, by any of those means. You can deceive without a single lie — the cup game above is proof.
What is the difference between deceit and deception?
Deceit carries more blame — it points at a person's dishonest character ('a life of deceit'). Deception is cooler and more neutral, naming the act or technique, and even has honest uses: a magician's deception, military deception. Same root, different temperature: deceit accuses, deception describes.
What is the difference between deceptive and deceitful?
Deceitful describes people and intentions — a deceitful witness means to trick you. Deceptive describes things and appearances, and need not intend anything: a deceptive calm, deceptively simple. A deceitful person lies on purpose; a deceptive distance just misleads the eye. Only one of the two has a motive.
How do you spell deceive — 'ei' or 'ie'?
Deceive, with e before i — because it follows a c. The old rhyme holds here: 'i before e, except after c', which is why receive, perceive and conceive all take the same -ceive ending. Its noun deceit keeps the pattern; only the cousin deceptive breaks the spelling entirely.
Is it 'appearances can be deceiving' or 'deceptive'?
Both are correct and both are common — 'deceiving' treats it as the verb caught in the act, 'deceptive' as a standing quality. The saying is old either way, and its point is the one the scene above stages: the ball was never hidden, yet certainty still ended up under the wrong cup.
What is the difference between deceive and cheat?
Deceive works on belief; cheat works on rules and gains. A cheat breaks the terms to win — an exam, a game, a partner — and usually deceives in order to do it, but the aim is the unfair advantage, not the false belief itself. You can deceive someone kindly, in a surprise party; you cannot cheat them kindly.