de ‧ ceive /dɪˈsiːv/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ deceit , ↑ deceiver , ↑ deception ; adjective : ↑ deceitful , ↑ deceptive ; verb : ↑ deceive ; adverb : ↑ deceptively ]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: deceivre , from Latin decipere ]
1 . to make someone believe something that is not true ⇨ deception :
He had been deceived by a young man claiming to be the son of a millionaire.
deceive somebody into doing something
He tried to deceive the public into thinking the war could still be won.
deceive somebody about something
I wouldn’t deceive you about anything as important as this.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say trick rather than deceive :
▪
She thought they were trying to trick her.
2 . deceive yourself to refuse to believe that something is true because the truth is unpleasant:
I thought she loved me, but I was deceiving myself.
deceive yourself that
He didn’t deceive himself that he and Ruth could remain friends.
3 . to give someone a wrong belief or opinion about something:
Don’t be deceived by the new cover – this is a rehash of old hits.
—deceiver noun [countable]
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THESAURUS
▪ deceive especially written to make someone who trusts you believe something that is not true:
This was a deliberate attempt to deceive the public.
▪ trick to make someone believe something that is not true, in order to get something from them or make them do something:
A man posing as an insurance agent had tricked her out of thousands of dollars.
▪ fool to make someone believe something that is not true by using a clever but simple trick:
His hairpiece doesn’t fool anyone.
▪ mislead to make people believe something that is not true, by deliberately not giving them all the facts, or by saying something that is only partly true:
The company was accused of misleading customers about the nutritional value of the product.
▪ dupe informal to trick or deceive someone, especially so that they become involved in someone else’s dishonest activity without realizing it:
The spies duped government and military officials alike.
▪ con informal to trick someone, especially by telling them something that is not true:
I’m pretty good at judging people; I didn’t think he was trying to con me.