1
as in misleading
tending or having power to deceive
in his deceptive answer about the vehicle's history, the salesman said that the used car had never been hit by another car
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fraudulent
given to or marked by cheating and deception
a mail-order firm indicted for deceptive business practices
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deceptive
Try not to let anything get you too down, and do not be deceptive to yourself or others about the reality of a situation.
—
Kyle Thomas, People.com, 27 July 2025
Earlier this month, Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit, alleging that last fall’s 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, then his Democratic rival in the 2024 election, contained deceptive editing.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 23 July 2025
The rule aims to ensure transparency in online marketplaces and curb deceptive practices.
—Ashley Lutz, Fortune, 22 July 2025
Experts warned that this creates an especially deceptive environment, increasing the risk of hypothermia and drowning for anyone entering the water without proper precautions.
—Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Kyle Thomas, People.com, 27 July 2025
Earlier this month, Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit, alleging that last fall’s 60 Minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, then his Democratic rival in the 2024 election, contained deceptive editing.
—David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 23 July 2025
The rule aims to ensure transparency in online marketplaces and curb deceptive practices.
—Ashley Lutz, Fortune, 22 July 2025
Experts warned that this creates an especially deceptive environment, increasing the risk of hypothermia and drowning for anyone entering the water without proper precautions.
—Anna Skinner, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deceptive
Adjective
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About 86% of the fraudulent claims for Medicare happened from December 2017 on.—
Meredith Colias-Pete,
Chicago Tribune,
29 July 2025
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An Arizona woman has been sentenced to more than eight years in prison for her role in a fraudulent scheme that helped North Koreans obtain remote IT positions at 309 US companies, including an unnamed member of the Fortune 500.—
Will McCurdy,
PC Magazine,
26 July 2025
Adjective
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One of the things your piece says is that, essentially for the entire duration of the war, there’ve been false warnings about a hunger crisis.—
Isaac Chotiner,
New Yorker,
30 July 2025
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The leaders who rise—and the companies that outperform—will be those that refuse the false trade-off.—
Jack Zenger,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
Adjective
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The former Oakland Raiders linebacker was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shady military pal in Predator (1987) before landing his own macho action vehicle in Action Jackson (1988).—
Skyler Trepel,
EW.com,
25 July 2025
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Visitors will find 2,000 miles of shady hiking trails, 3,000 ponds and lakes with water originating from cool mountain peaks, 30,000 miles of fresh and often chilly rivers and streams and millions of acres of sun-filtering forests.—
Matt Alderton,
USA Today,
24 July 2025
Adjective
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Writing faculty have both the agency and the academic freedom to examine generative AI’s dishonest training origins and conclude: There is no path to ethically teach AI skills.—
Peter Greene,
Forbes.com,
22 July 2025
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So, in that moment, the things that are coming out of my mouth are not dishonest.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
22 July 2025
Adjective
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There are all sorts of bad husbands in The Hunting Wives: Jed (Dermot Mulroney) is a horny oil tycoon with his eyes set on the governor’s mansion, Clint (Jason Davis) is a snobby reverend, and Jonny (Branton Box) is a crooked sheriff.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
1 Aug. 2025
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The black hole and its crooked jet are found in a blazar known as OJ 287, located about four billion light-years away.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
1 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deceptive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deceptive. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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