lexicow

deceive

/dɪˈsiːv//dɪˈsiːv/·verb
I watch the ball go under the left cup — I saw it clearly, I'm certain. The three slide over and around each other, brisk but surely not too fast to follow, and I keep my eyes on the left the whole time, sure it never really moved. The left lifts: nothing. He tips the cup on the far right instead, and there the ball sits, smug, exactly where I'd stopped watching. He never hid it from me; he just walked my certainty over to the wrong cup.
|

Definition

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.

Examples

  • Advertisers deceive most effectively when the image is literally true but the impression it leaves is false.
  • She felt deceived only once she could discern how the figures had quietly been rearranged.
  • Do not let a confident manner deceive you into trusting an unproven claim.

Collocations

deceive the public·be deceived by appearances·deceive yourself·deliberately deceive·easily deceived

Synonyms

mislead·dupe·delude·trick·beguile

Antonyms

enlighten·undeceive

Word family

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

In TOEFL & 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.