Synonyms of deceive

deceive 1 of 3

verb (1)

di-ˈsēv 

as in to fool

to cause to believe what is untrue

he went to great lengths to deceive his family about the nature of his new job at the mall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• fool
• trick
• mislead
• delude
• tease
• misinform
• misguide
• beguile
• hoodwink
• dupe
• bamboozle
• kid
• cheat
• sucker
• bluff
• hoax
• suck in
• sting
• cozen
• catch
• humbug
• gull
• con
• juggle
• burn
• spoof
• have
• take in
• have on
• snow
• gaff
• buffalo
• gammon
• string along
• hornswoggle
• snooker
• defraud
• fake out
• pull one's leg
• lead one up the garden path
• do a number on
• lead one down the garden path
• pull the wool over one's eyes
• swindle
• shortchange
• stick
• put on
• bleed
• fleece
• mulct
• diddle
• skin
• hustle
• chisel
• squeeze
• rook
• euchre
• flimflam

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• undeceive
• reveal
• expose
• uncover
• show up
• unmask
• disclose
• tell
• debunk
• divulge
• unveil
• disabuse
• uncloak
• disillusion
• disenchant

deceiving

2 of 3

adjective

as in misleading

tending or having power to deceive

the deceiving nature of most flat maps of the globe causes some people to believe erroneously that Greenland is actually bigger than South America

Synonyms & Similar Words

• misleading
• deceptive
• false
• incorrect
• deceitful
• specious
• beguiling
• fallacious
• delusive
• ambiguous
• deluding
• inaccurate
• fraudulent
• crooked
• delusory
• subtle
• lying
• trick
• cunning
• treacherous
• dishonest
• distracting
• slick
• shifty
• wrong
• wily
• perplexing
• sneaky
• tricky
• puzzling
• crafty
• confounding
• counterfeit
• duplicitous
• untrustworthy
• underhanded
• forged
• subtile
• shady
• artful
• artificial
• devious
• sly
• fake
• foxy
• mendacious
• untruthful
• faithless
• underhand
• insidious
• defrauding
• phoney
• bewildering
• perfidious
• dissembling
• guileful
• trickish
• evasive
• feigned
• hypocritical
• bogus
• sneaking
• sham
• phony
• insincere
• spurious
• knavish
• ambidextrous
• jive
• fast
• double-dealing
• equivocal
• backhanded
• circuitous
• two-faced
• left-handed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• straightforward
• plain
• open
• direct
• forthright
• straight
• aboveboard
• frank
• illuminating
• candid
• nondeceptive
• outspoken
• revealing
• explanatory
• clarifying
• plainspoken
• truthful
• revelatory
• honest
• openhearted
• trustworthy
• free-spoken
• foursquare
• elucidative

deceiving

3 of 3

verb (2)

present participle of deceive

as in tricking

to cause to believe what is untrue

he went to great lengths to deceive his family about the nature of his new job at the mall

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tricking
• fooling
• misleading
• teasing
• misguiding
• deluding
• misinforming
• kidding
• duping
• suckering
• conning
• hoodwinking
• gulling
• bamboozling
• cheating
• hoaxing
• bluffing
• beguiling
• cozening
• catching
• juggling
• stinging
• snookering
• spoofing
• humbugging
• snowing
• sucking in
• having
• burning
• gaffing
• taking in
• stringing along
• gammoning
• faking out
• having on
• buffaloing
• hornswoggling
• defrauding
• pulling one's leg
• doing a number on
• leading one up the garden path
• leading one down the garden path
• swindling
• pulling the wool over one's eyes
• sticking
• fleecing
• shortchanging
• bleeding
• putting on
• mulcting
• hustling
• rooking
• chiselling
• chiseling
• squeezing
• diddling
• euchring
• skinning
• flimflamming

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• revealing
• exposing
• uncovering
• disclosing
• undeceiving
• unmasking
• telling
• debunking
• divulging
• showing up
• unveiling
• disillusioning
• disabusing
• uncloaking
• disenchanting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of deceive

Verb

These pop-ups are scams meant to deceive you into thinking your iPhone has been compromised. —Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, FOXNews.com, 30 Mar. 2025

By peering into Claude’s thought process, the researchers found instances where Clause would not only attempt to deceive the user, but sometimes contemplate measures to harm Anthropic—like stealing top-secret information about its algorithms and sending it to servers outside the company. —Steven Levy, Wired News, 28 Mar. 2025

Verb

But those numbers are deceiving, given his form over the last six weeks of the season. —Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2025

Any clinic that is promising instant, full growth in a few weeks is deceiving you. —Rowan Briggs, The Mercury News, 19 Mar. 2025