deceptive
adjective
de·cep·tive
di-ˈsep-tiv 
: tending or having power to cause someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid : tending or having power to deceive
a deceptive appearance
a pitcher with a deceptive windup
deceptively
adverb
deceptiveness
noun
Examples of deceptive in a Sentence
in his deceptive answer about the vehicle's history, the salesman said that the used car had never been hit by another car
a mail-order firm indicted for deceptive business practices
Recent Examples on the Web
The lawsuit invokes the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices-Consumer Protection Act (DTPA), which allows individuals and businesses to sue companies for false, misleading, or deceptive business practices.
—
Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 23 May 2026
Kristof’s critics have recalled past incidents in which the double Pulitzer Prize winner was betrayed by his reliance on deceptive sources, including identifying an innocent man as the author of the anthrax terror attacks of 2001.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
The Request for Investigation, shared exclusively with Fortune ahead of its public filing on Wednesday, alleges that Roblox is violating Section 5 of the FTC Act through unfair and deceptive practices.
—Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 20 May 2026
That fueled the storyline that Valerie would be the only person actually working on the show who knows the scripts are being written by AI, reflecting how careful, and in some cases, downright deceptive, those in Hollywood are in revealing their use of AI.
—Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 19 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Will McCurdy, PC Magazine, 23 May 2026
Kristof’s critics have recalled past incidents in which the double Pulitzer Prize winner was betrayed by his reliance on deceptive sources, including identifying an innocent man as the author of the anthrax terror attacks of 2001.
—David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026
The Request for Investigation, shared exclusively with Fortune ahead of its public filing on Wednesday, alleges that Roblox is violating Section 5 of the FTC Act through unfair and deceptive practices.
—Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 20 May 2026
That fueled the storyline that Valerie would be the only person actually working on the show who knows the scripts are being written by AI, reflecting how careful, and in some cases, downright deceptive, those in Hollywood are in revealing their use of AI.
—Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 19 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Cite this Entry
“Deceptive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deceptive. Accessed 27 May. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
deceptive
adjective
de·cep·tive
di-ˈsep-tiv
: tending or having power to deceive : misleading
a deceptive appearance
deceptively
adverb
deceptiveness
noun
Legal Definition
deceptive
adjective
de·cep·tive
di-ˈsep-tiv
: tending or having capacity to deceive
deceptive trade practices
compare fraudulent, misleading
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
