Deceiving

Deceiving
Deceive De*ceive", v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Deceived}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Deceiving}.] [OE. deceveir, F. d['e]cevoir, fr. L. decipere to catch, insnare, deceive; de- + capere to take, catch. See {Capable}, and cf. {Deceit}, {Deception}.] 1. To lead into error; to cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose upon; to mislead; to cheat; to disappoint; to delude; to insnare. [1913 Webster]

Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. --2 Tim. iii. 13. [1913 Webster]

Nimble jugglers that deceive the eye. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

What can 'scape the eye Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart? --Milton. [1913 Webster]

2. To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception. [1913 Webster]

These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. --Wordsworth. [1913 Webster]

3. To deprive by fraud or stealth; to defraud. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Plant fruit trees in large borders, and set therein fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they deceive the trees. --Bacon.

Syn: {Deceive}, {Delude}, {Mislead}.

Usage: Deceive is a general word applicable to any kind of misrepresentation affecting faith or life. To delude, primarily, is to make sport of, by deceiving, and is accomplished by playing upon one's imagination or credulity, as by exciting false hopes, causing him to undertake or expect what is impracticable, and making his failure ridiculous. It implies some infirmity of judgment in the victim, and intention to deceive in the deluder. But it is often used reflexively, indicating that a person's own weakness has made him the sport of others or of fortune; as, he deluded himself with a belief that luck would always favor him. To mislead is to lead, guide, or direct in a wrong way, either willfully or ignorantly. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • deceiving — index colorable (specious), deceptive, delusive, dishonest, disingenuous, evasive, fallacious, false …   Law dictionary

  • deceiving — Synonyms and related words: beguiling, catchy, deceptive, deluding, delusive, delusory, dubious, fallacious, FALSE, fishy, hallucinatory, illusive, illusory, misleading, questionable, trickish, tricksy, tricky …   Moby Thesaurus

  • deceiving — de·ceive || dɪ siːv v. cheat, mislead …   English contemporary dictionary

  • DECEIVING — …   Useful english dictionary

  • self-deceiving — /self di see ving, self /, adj. 1. subject to self deception; tending to deceive or fool oneself: a self deceiving person. 2. used in deceiving oneself, esp. in justifying a false belief, a morally reprehensible act, or the like: a self deceiving …   Universalium

  • eye-deceiving — adj. creating the illusion of seeing reality. Syn: trompe l oeil(prenominal). [WordNet 1.5] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • self-deceiving — | ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷| ̷ ̷ ̷ ̷ adjective : given to self deception or serving to deceive oneself a self deceiving hypocrite self deceiving excuses …   Useful english dictionary

  • self-deceiving — self deceiv′ing adj …   From formal English to slang

  • eye-deceiving — adjective creating the illusion of seeing reality (Freq. 1) the visual deception of trompe l oeil art • Syn: ↑trompe l oeil • Similar to: ↑unreal …   Useful english dictionary

  • self-delusion — deceiving oneself deliberately …   English contemporary dictionary

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