DECEIVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Deceive

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/dɪsˈiv/ Listen

verb

Deceive v. t. (past & past part. deceived; pres. part. deceiving)

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. "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." "Nimble jugglers that deceive the eye." "What can 'scape the eye Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart?"

To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception. "These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour."

To deprive by fraud or stealth; to defraud. (Obs.) "Plant fruit trees in large borders, and set therein fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they deceive the trees."

Synonyms: Deceive, Delude, Mislead. 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.

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Etymology of 'Deceive'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Deceive" Quotes from Famous Books

... divided people, that the latter are opposed to their own government, and that the show of a small force would occasion a revolt, I have no doubt; and how far these men (grown desperate) will further attempt to deceive, and may succeed in keeping up the deception, is problematical. Without that, the folly of the Directory in such an attempt would, I conceive, be more conspicuous, if possible, than ...

— Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2 • John Frederick Schroeder and Benson John Lossing

... was to acquaint us with from the Swedes Embassador, in manner of saying, that for money he might be got to our side and relinquish the trouble he may give us. Sir W. Pen did make a long simple declaration of his resolution to give nothing to deceive any poor man of what was his right by law, but ended in doing whatever any body else would, and we did commission Sir R. Ford to give promise of not beyond L350 to him and his Secretary, in case they did not oppose us in the Phoenix (the net ...

— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys

... offered; and it must be by preserving such relations that we may, at last, judge how much they are to be regarded. If we stay to examine this account, we shall see difficulties on both sides: here is the relation of a fact given by a man who had no interest to deceive, and who could not be deceived himself; and here is, on the other hand, a miracle which produces no effect; the order of nature is interrupted to discover not a future, but only a distant event, the knowledge of which is of no use to ...

— Lives of the Poets, Vol. 1 • Samuel Johnson

... him? Oh! none but God can ever know how entirely my heart is his! I have struggled against his fascination—oh! indeed I have wrestled and prayed against it! But to-day—I do not deceive myself- -I feel that I love him as I can never love any other human being. You are his mother, and you will pity me when I tell you that I fall asleep praying for him—that in my dreams I am with him once more— that the first thought on waking ...

— St. Elmo • Augusta J. Evans

... unwary Amasa in Jesus the Lord. "Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss" tears the vail from him at once; and in the same way the feeblest believer who abides in Him, is led of that same spirit; and "good words and fair speeches" do not deceive, nor can betrayal be hidden behind ...

— Old Groans and New Songs - Being Meditations on the Book of Ecclesiastes • F. C. Jennings

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