deceiver


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de·ceive

 (dĭ-sēv′)
v. de·ceived, de·ceiv·ing, de·ceives
v.tr.
1. To cause to believe what is not true; mislead.
2. Archaic To catch by guile; ensnare.
v.intr.
1. To practice deceit.
2. To give a false impression: appearances can deceive.

[Middle English deceiven, from Old French deceveir, from Vulgar Latin *dēcipēre, from Latin dēcipere, to ensnare, deceive : dē-, de- + capere, to seize; see kap- in Indo-European roots.]

de·ceiv′a·ble adj.
de·ceiv′er n.
de·ceiv′ing·ly adv.
Synonyms: deceive, mislead, delude, dupe, hoodwink, bamboozle
These verbs mean to cause someone to believe something untrue, usually with an ulterior motive in mind. Deceive, the most general, stresses the deliberate misrepresentation of what one knows to be true: "We are inclined to believe those whom we do not know, because they have never deceived us" (Samuel Johnson).
To mislead is to direct toward a wrong conclusion, as by the use of half-truths or obfuscation; it is often but not always intentional: "Writing for young people may tempt authors to oversimplify technical information, which may mislead or confuse the reader" (Margaret Bush).
Delude can imply a deception so thorough as to foster belief that is not merely misplaced but often irrational; it may also imply a strong dose of wishful thinking: "I knew, suddenly, in a thunderbolt of awareness, that I had been deluding myself for years, and had madly fancied myself a writer, when I was nothing of the sort" (Margaret Drabble).
To dupe is to play upon another's susceptibilities or naiveté: The shoppers were duped by false advertising. Hoodwink and the informal bamboozle refer to deception by hoaxing, trickery, or artful persuasion: "Worst of all ... the orchestra manager ... has somehow hoodwinked me with his courtly southern manner into signing another multiyear contract" (Arnold Steinhardt)."Perhaps if I wanted to be understood or to understand I would bamboozle myself into belief, but I am a reporter" (Graham Greene).
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.deceiver - someone who leads you to believe something that is not truedeceiver - someone who leads you to believe something that is not true
offender, wrongdoer - a person who transgresses moral or civil law
bluffer, four-flusher - a person who tries to bluff other people
chiseler, chiseller, defrauder, grifter, scammer, swindler, gouger - a person who swindles you by means of deception or fraud
decoy, steerer - a beguiler who leads someone into danger (usually as part of a plot)
dodger, slyboots, fox - a shifty deceptive person
double-crosser, double-dealer, traitor, two-timer, betrayer - a person who says one thing and does another
defalcator, embezzler, peculator - someone who violates a trust by taking (money) for his own use
falsifier - someone who falsifies
finagler, wangler - a deceiver who uses crafty misleading methods
counterfeiter, forger - someone who makes copies illegally
fortune hunter - a person who seeks wealth through marriage
front man, nominal head, straw man, strawman, figurehead, front - a person used as a cover for some questionable activity
dissembler, dissimulator, hypocrite, phoney, phony, pretender - a person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives
imitator, impersonator - someone who (fraudulently) assumes the appearance of another
faker, imposter, impostor, pseud, pseudo, role player, sham, shammer, pretender, fraud, fake - a person who makes deceitful pretenses
liar, prevaricator - a person who has lied or who lies repeatedly
misleader - someone who leads astray (often deliberately)
charlatan, mountebank - a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes
obscurantist - a person who is deliberately vague
sandbagger - someone who deceives you about his true nature or intent in order to take advantage of you
two-timer - someone who deceives a lover or spouse by carrying on a sexual relationship with somebody else
utterer - someone who circulates forged banknotes or counterfeit coins
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

deceiver

noun liar, fraud, cheat, fake, betrayer, crook (informal), pretender, deluder, hypocrite, charlatan, trickster, con man (informal), sharper, impostor, fraudster, swindler, dissembler, inveigler, mountebank, snake in the grass, grifter (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), double-dealer, chiseller (informal), cozener He was condemned as a liar, cheat and deceiver.
Quotations
"men were deceivers ever" [William Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
Translations

deceiver

[dɪˈsiːvəʳ] Nimpostor(a) m/f, embustero/a m/f; [of women] → seductor m
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

deceiver

nBetrüger(in) m(f)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

deceiver

[dɪˈsiːvəʳ] ningannatore/trice
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
She could not answer it, so she parried it by saying, "Well, if you are not a deceiver, at least you are very romantic"; and Captain William let this observation pass without challenge.
"I," said the Fever, "And I'm no deceiver, I'll shake his hand."
The truth must have been that, all unversed in the arts of the wily Greek, the deceiver of gods, the lover of strange women, the evoker of bloodthirsty shades, I yet longed for the beginning of my own obscure Odyssey, which, as was proper for a modern, should unroll its wonders and terrors beyond the Pillars of Hercules.
For I do indeed believe that to be an involuntary homicide is a less crime than to be a deceiver about beauty or goodness or justice in the matter of laws.
"It'll be nice for you to be all together again at the farm--such a house full o' children!" remarked the dear old deceiver, who longed for nothing so much as to cuddle and comfort the poor little creature.
'You call me old witch, do ye, you deceiver!' says she, 'when ye ought to ha' been calling me mother-law these last five months!' And on went the churn, and Jack's bones rattled round again.
This excellent method of conveying a falsehood with the heart only, without making the tongue guilty of an untruth, by the means of equivocation and imposture, hath quieted the conscience of many a notable deceiver; and yet, when we consider that it is Omniscience on which these endeavour to impose, it may possibly seem capable of affording only a very superficial comfort; and that this artful and refined distinction between communicating a lie, and telling one, is hardly worth the pains it costs them.
"But perhaps you don't take whiskey?" suggested the arch deceiver, with a sudden affected but pretty perplexity of eye, brow, and lips.
The perfidious deceiver was, as may plainly be perceived, already sacrificing, in intention, the poor girl in order to obtain Milady, willy-nilly.
There is a terrible coercion in our deeds, which may first turn the honest man into a deceiver and then reconcile him to the change, for this reason--that the second wrong presents itself to him in the guise of the only practicable right.
They resolved, also, to keep along the river, instead of taking the short cut recommended by the fugitive Snake, whom they now set down for a thorough deceiver. The heat of the weather was oppressive, and their horses were, at times, rendered almost frantic by the stings of the prairie flies.
"Dear young lady," he said, bowing low, "I come to you very humbly, for I am afraid that I am a deceiver. I shall rob you of your pleasure, I fear.