deceptivity

English

Etymology

deceptive +‎ -ity

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪsɛpˈtɪvɪti/

Noun

deceptivity (usually uncountable, plural deceptivities)

1. The quality of being deceptive.

   Synonym: deceptiveness

   • 1908, Helen Keller, chapter 4, in The World I Live In,‎^[1], New York: The Century Co., page 50:

     My few senses long ago revealed to me their imperfections and deceptivity.

   • 1971, Thayer C. Taylor, “Sales Analysis”, in Philip Kotler, Keith K. Cox, editors, Readings in Marketing Management‎^[2], Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, page 383:

     Company-wide totals take on an iceberg-like deceptivity—what isn’t shown may be more important than what is.

2. (rare) Something that deceives.

   Synonyms: deception, sham

   • 1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Chapter 12”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book III (The Modern Worker), page 176:

     Alas, if he look to the Seen Powers only, he may as well quit the business; his No-thing will never rightly issue as a Thing, but as a Deceptivity, a Sham-thing, — which it had better not do!

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