Adjacent Words

Deceive definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DECE'IVE, v.t. [L to take asid, to ensnare.]
1. To mislead the mind; to cause to err; to cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose on; to delude.
Take heed that no man deceive you. Matthew 24.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. 1 John 1.
2. To beguile; to cheat.
Your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times.
3. To cut off from expectation; to frustrate or disappoint; as, his hopes were deceived.
4. To take from; to rob.
Plant fruit trees in large borders, and set therein fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they deceive the trees.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: be false to; be dishonest with [syn: deceive, lead on, delude, cozen]
2: cause someone to believe an untruth; "The insurance company deceived me when they told me they were covering my house" [syn: deceive, betray, lead astray] [ant: undeceive]

Merriam Webster's

verb (deceived; deceiving) Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French deceivre, from Latin decipere, from de- + capere to take — more at heave Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. archaic ensnare 2. a. obsolete to be false to b. archaic to fail to fulfill 3. obsolete cheat 4. to cause to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid 5. archaic to while away intransitive verb to practice deceit; also to give a false impression <appearances can deceive> • deceiver noun • deceivingly adverb Synonyms: deceive, mislead, delude, beguile mean to lead astray or frustrate usually by underhandedness. deceive implies imposing a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or helplessness <tried to deceive me about the cost>. mislead implies a leading astray that may or may not be intentional <I was misled by the confusing sign>. delude implies deceiving so thoroughly as to obscure the truth <we were deluded into thinking we were safe>. beguile stresses the use of charm and persuasion in deceiving <was beguiled by false promises>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. make (a person) believe what is false, mislead purposely. 2 tr. be unfaithful to, esp. sexually. 3 intr. use deceit. 4 tr. archaic disappoint (esp. hopes). Phrases and idioms: be deceived be mistaken or deluded. deceive oneself persist in a mistaken belief. Derivatives: deceivable adj. deceiver n. Etymology: ME f. OF deceivre or deceiv- stressed stem of deceveir (as DECEIT)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Deceive De*ceive", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Deceived; p. pr. & vb. n. Deceiving.] [OE. deceveir, F. d['e]cevoir, fr. L. decipere to catch, insnare, deceive; de- + capere to take, catch. See Capable, and cf. Deceit, Deception.] 1. To lead into error; to cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose upon; to mislead; to cheat; to disappoint; to delude; to insnare. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. --2 Tim. iii. 13. Nimble jugglers that deceive the eye. --Shak. What can 'scape the eye Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart? --Milton. 2. To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception. These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. --Wordsworth. 3. To deprive by fraud or stealth; to defraud. [Obs.] Plant fruit trees in large borders, and set therein fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they deceive the trees. --Bacon. Syn: Deceive, Delude, Mislead. Usage: Deceive is a general word applicable to any kind of misrepresentation affecting faith or life. To delude, primarily, is to make sport of, by deceiving, and is accomplished by playing upon one's imagination or credulity, as by exciting false hopes, causing him to undertake or expect what is impracticable, and making his failure ridiculous. It implies some infirmity of judgment in the victim, and intention to deceive in the deluder. But it is often used reflexively, indicating that a person's own weakness has made him the sport of others or of fortune; as, he deluded himself with a belief that luck would always favor him. To mislead is to lead, guide, or direct in a wrong way, either willfully or ignorantly.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(deceives, deceiving, deceived) 1. If you deceive someone, you make them believe something that is not true, usually in order to get some advantage for yourself. He has deceived and disillusioned us all... If you can make the last 10 seconds exciting, you can deceive your audience into thinking it's been like that all along. VERB: V n, V n into -ing 2. If you deceive yourself, you do not admit to yourself something that you know is true. Alcoholics are notorious for their ability to deceive themselves about the extent of their problem. VERB: V pron-refl 3. If something deceives you, it gives you a wrong impression and makes you believe something that is not true. His gentle, kindly appearance did not deceive me... = mislead VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Delude, cheat, dupe, gull, cozen, fool, befool, trick, circumvent, overreach, chouse, beguile, hoodwink, impose upon, make a fool of, play a trick upon, pull wool over one's eyes. 2. Disappoint, frustrate. 3. Beguile, wile away, while away.

Moby Thesaurus

abuse, bamboozle, be untruthful, befool, beguile, betray, bitch, bluff, bunk, cajole, cheat, cheat on, circumvent, con, conjure, cozen, debauch, defile, deflower, defraud, delude, despoil, diddle, do, dodge, double-cross, draw the longbow, dupe, elude, equivocate, evade, exaggerate, falsify, fib, finesse, foil, fool, force, forestall, four-flush, frustrate, gammon, get around, get round, give the runaround, give the slip, go one better, gull, hoax, hocus-pocus, hoodwink, hornswaggle, humbug, impose on, impose upon, inveigle, juggle, lead astray, lead on, let down, lie, lie flatly, mislead, mock, outfigure, outflank, outgeneral, outguess, outmaneuver, outplay, outreach, outsmart, outwit, overreach, pass the buck, pigeon, play one false, prevaricate, put, put something over, rape, ravage, ravish, ruin, seduce, sell out, shift, shift about, snow, soil, speak falsely, spoof, stonewall, story, stretch the truth, string along, suck in, sully, swindle, take, take in, tell a lie, throw off, trick, twist and turn, two-time, victimize, violate