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 cheatcheatfool ▪ deceive ▪ betray ▪ take in ▪ trick ▪ conThese words all mean to make somebody believe something that is not true, especially in order to get what you want.cheat to make somebody believe something that is not true, in order to get money or something else from them:Topics Personal qualitiesb2, Crime and punishmentb2- She is accused of attempting to cheat the taxman.
- He cheated his way into the job.
- Just don’t be fooled into investing any money with them.
- She deceived him into handing over all his savings.
- She felt betrayed when she found out the truth about him.
- I was taken in by her story.
- 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
See deceive in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee deceive in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishflatter 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.
Check pronunciation:
deceive