deceptive

See also: déceptive

English

Etymology

From Middle French déceptif, from Latin dēceptīvus, from dēcipiō (“to deceive”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dɪˈsɛp.tɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛptɪv

Adjective

deceptive (comparative more deceptive, superlative most deceptive)

1. Likely or attempting to deceive.

   Synonyms: misleading, sneaking; see also Thesaurus:deceptive

   deceptive practices

   Appearances can be deceptive.

   • 1653, John Bulwer, “Scene XXIIII. Cruell and Fantasticall Inventions of Men Practised upon Their Bodies in a Supposed Way of Bravery, and Wicked Practices both of Men and Devils to Alter and Deforme the Humane Fabricke”, in Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d; or, The Artificial Changling […], 2nd edition, London: […] William Hunt, →OCLC, page 521:

     But others declare that no Creature can be made or tranſmuted into a better or vvorſe, or transformed into another ſpecies or ſimilitude, by man, or devill. […] Martinus [i.e., Martin] Delrio the Jeſuit accounts this degeneration of Man into a Beaſt to be an illuſion, deceptive and repugnant to Nature; for, the ſoule of man cannot informe a beaſts body, […]

   • 1789, Frederick the Great, translated by Thomas Holcroft, The History of My Own Times‎^[1], London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson, Part 1, Chapter 12, p. 163:

     […] at the opening of the campaign, the French, after various deceptive attempts on different places, suddenly invested Tournay.

   • 1846, Richard Chenevix Trench, Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord, London: John W. Parker, 2nd ed., 1847, Preliminary Essay, Chapter 2, p. 10,^[2]

     language altogether deceptive, and hiding the deeper reality from our eyes

   • 1978, Susan Sontag, chapter 2, in Illness as Metaphor‎^[3], New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 13:

     […] it is characteristic of TB that many of its symptoms are deceptive—liveliness that comes from enervation, rosy cheeks that look like a sign of health but come from fever—and an upsurge of vitality may be a sign of approaching death.

Derived terms

• appearances are deceptive
• deceptive advertising
• deceptive cadence
• deceptive cognate
• deceptively
• deceptiveness
• deceptivity
• nondeceptive
• self-deceptive
• undeceptive

Related terms

• deceit
• deceive
• deception

Translations

misleading, attempting to deceive — see also delusive

• Asturian: engañosu, engañador
• Bulgarian: измамен (bg) (izmamen), заблуждаващ (bg) (zabluždavašt)
• Catalan: enganyós (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 迷惑的 (zh) (míhuò de)

• Czech: klamný (cs), zavádějící (cs), ošidný, matoucí, falešný (cs), podvodný
• Dutch: bedrieglijk (nl), onoprecht (nl), misleidend (nl)
• Finnish: petollinen (fi), harhaanjohtava (fi)
• French: trompeur (fr), qui induit en erreur, illusoire (fr), mensonger (fr), déceptif (fr)
• Galician: enganoso
• German: betrügerisch (de), irreführend (de), trügerisch (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: ἀπατηλός (apatēlós), ἀρισφαλής (arisphalḗs)

• Hebrew: מטעה (mat'é), שקרי (shikrí)
• Hindi: भ्रामक (hi) (bhrāmak)
• Hungarian: megtévesztő (hu)
• Ingrian: pettelikko
• Irish: fabhtach, cealgach
• Italian: ingannevole (it)
• Jamaican Creole: ginnal, samfie
• Japanese: 欺瞞的 (ぎまんてき, gimanteki)
• Latin: fallax, fallens, deceptivus, captiōsus
• Middle English: deceyvable
• Persian: نیرنگ‌باز (neyrang-bâz)
• Portuguese: enganoso (pt), enganador (pt)
• Russian: обма́нчивый (ru) (obmánčivyj)
• Sanskrit: द्रुह्वन् (sa) (druhvan)
• Scottish Gaelic: mealltach, carach, cealgach
• Spanish: engañoso (es), engañador (es), delusorio, decebiente
• Swedish: bedräglig (sv), missvisande (sv)
• Turkish: yanıltıcı (tr)