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
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Recent Examples of deceive
And don't be deceived by the chic, modern design—this is a property with a past firmly rooted in the region's history.
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Hannah Freedman, Travel + Leisure, 13 July 2025
Lawsuit against Prop 314 still in early stages The lawsuit filed by Living United for Change in Arizona in April claims the law deceived Arizona voters by failing to show how enforcement of the law would be funded, among other complaints.
—Ray Stern, AZCentral.com, 11 July 2025
More than 20 children are in the custody of a Southern California child-welfare agency as authorities investigate allegations of child abuse and whether surrogate mothers were deceived by a Los Angeles-area couple.
—Thao Nguyen, USA Today, 17 July 2025
And then he was wishy-washy, went back and forth, and she was deceived and disappointed by him.
—Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 15 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for deceive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deceive
Verb
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But don’t be fooled by the red planet’s Venusian trance.—
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Wild horses often nap on the sand like beachgoers — but don’t be fooled.—
Verb
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In the ensuing hours, Hernandez asked several times to go home, said the officers were trying to trick him, sobbed, clutched at his stomach, lay on the floor in a fetal position, had a fentanyl patch placed on his chest to treat his chronic pain, and mentioned his mental illness diagnoses.—
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In the series, Haddix revealed to the audience that Tonka was alive and celebrated her tricking the court.—
Verb
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Mark Lippman, Boca Raton A message to young Democrats: You’ve been misled and bamboozled long enough.—
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The complaints, filed in Washington and other jurisdictions, alleged that the lawyers misled a federal judge.—
Cite this Entry
“Deceive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deceive. Accessed 13 Aug. 2025.
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