deceive
verb /dɪˈsiːv/
/dɪˈsiːv/
Word Family
- deceive verb
- deceit noun
- deceitful adjective
- deception noun
- deceptive adjective
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they deceive | /dɪˈsiːv/ /dɪˈsiːv/ |
| he / she / it deceives | /dɪˈsiːvz/ /dɪˈsiːvz/ |
| past simple deceived | /dɪˈsiːvd/ /dɪˈsiːvd/ |
| past participle deceived | /dɪˈsiːvd/ /dɪˈsiːvd/ |
| -ing form deceiving | /dɪˈsiːvɪŋ/ /dɪˈsiːvɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] to make somebody believe something that is not true
- deceive somebody Her husband had been deceiving her for years.
- deceive somebody into doing something She deceived him into handing over all his savings.
Synonyms cheatcheatTopics Personal qualitiesb2, Crime and punishmentb2- fool
- deceive
- betray
- take in
- trick
- con
- cheat to make somebody believe something that is not true, in order to get money or something else from them:
- She is accused of attempting to cheat the taxman.
- He cheated his way into the job.
- fool to make somebody believe something that is not true, especially in order to laugh at them or to get what you want:
- Just don’t be fooled into investing any money with them.
- deceive to make somebody believe something that is not true, especially somebody who trusts you, in order to get what you want:
- She deceived him into handing over all his savings.
- betray to hurt somebody who trusts you, especially by lying to or about them or telling their secrets to other people:
- She felt betrayed when she found out the truth about him.
- take somebody in [often passive] to make somebody believe something that is not true, usually in order to get what you want:
- I was taken in by her story.
- trick to make somebody believe something that is not true, especially in a clever way, in order to get what you want.
- con (informal) to make somebody believe something that is not true, especially in order to get money from them or get them to do something for you:
- They had been conned out of £100 000.
- Many of these words involve making somebody believe something that is not true, but some of them are more disapproving than others. Deceive is probably the worst because people typically deceive friends, relations and others who know and trust them. People may feel cheated/betrayed by somebody in authority who they trusted to look after their interests. If somebody takes you in, they may do it by acting a part and using words and charm effectively. If somebody cheats/fools/tricks/cons you, they may get something from you and make you feel stupid. However, somebody might fool you just as a joke; and to trick somebody is sometimes seen as a clever thing to do, if the person being tricked is seen as a bad person who deserves it.
- to cheat/fool/trick/con somebody out of something
- to cheat/fool/deceive/betray/trick/con somebody into doing something
- to feel cheated/fooled/deceived/betrayed/tricked/conned
- to fool/deceive yourself
- to cheat/trick/con your way into something
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- easily
- deliberately
- attempt to
- try to
- into
- [transitive] deceive yourself (that…) to refuse to admit to yourself that something unpleasant is true
- You're deceiving yourself if you think he'll change his mind.
- [transitive, intransitive] deceive (somebody) to make somebody have a wrong idea about somebody/something synonym mislead
- Unless my eyes deceive me, that's his wife.
- the hallmarks of a detective mystery where appearances deceive
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French deceivre, from Latin decipere ‘catch, ensnare, cheat’.
Idioms
flatter to deceive
- (British English) if something flatters to deceive, it appears to be better, more successful, etc. than it really is
- As with many new bands, their early success flattered to deceive.