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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in fraudulent
given to or marked by cheating and deception
a mail-order firm indicted for deceptive business practices
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of deceptive
Harvey is a dynamic skater who breaks down coverage with her feet, deceptive puck skills and playmaking intuition.
—
Hailey Salvian, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
On March 24, the jury found that Meta had violated the state’s consumer protection law by knowingly engaging in an unfair or deceptive trade practice.
—Diana Novak Jones, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
But at the same time, language seemed less deceptive then.
—Laura Brown, Artforum, 25 Mar. 2026
The lawsuit accuses the company of deceptive marketing practices.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Hailey Salvian, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2026
On March 24, the jury found that Meta had violated the state’s consumer protection law by knowingly engaging in an unfair or deceptive trade practice.
—Diana Novak Jones, USA Today, 25 Mar. 2026
But at the same time, language seemed less deceptive then.
—Laura Brown, Artforum, 25 Mar. 2026
The lawsuit accuses the company of deceptive marketing practices.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deceptive
Adjective
-
Winds high above Saturn were generating electrical currents, creating a misleading auroral signal that mimicked changes in rotation.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Parts of the ballot language backing a tax on second homes in San Diego are misleading and must be amended, a judge ruled Thursday.—
Roxana Popescu,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
In another case, Nita Almuete Paddit Palma, 76, and her husband, Adolfo Catbagan, 68, are accused of operating three fraudulent hospice care facilities, including one that was operating while Palma was free on bond in another hospice fraud case.—
Richard Winton,
Los Angeles Times,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Medicare paid the Gills more than $4 million on the fraudulent claims.—
Chelsea Hylton,
CBS News,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Five of the cases involved hospice care facilities in several cities across Los Angeles County that submitted false claims to Medicare for patients who were not terminally ill and were not eligible for services, prosecutors said.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
This means that precious time was likely lost at the beginning as police investigated a lead that was based on false assumptions.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In addition to serving as a showrunner, Levy stars as Nicky, an openly gay pastor who gets wrapped up in a shady underworld plot with his flailing sister Morgan (Taylor Ortega).—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Apr. 2026
-
They get captured by Hungarian gangsters and have to fight (and kill) their way out of an inn run by a shady former dance prodigy (Uma Thurman).—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Asked about those allegations, Grossi said his role is to provide technical expertise, not to weigh in on whether Iran was honest or dishonest.—
Joe Walsh,
CBS News,
20 Mar. 2026
-
This is dishonest and partisan.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Debuting them in a brief, awkward first flight, like a firework that shoots crooked after being in storage too long.—
María Ospina,
The Dial,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Tolkan also played Napoleon and his look-alike in Woody Allen’s Love and Death (1975) and was the crooked accountant known as Numbers who works for Big Boy Caprice (Al Pacino) in Warren Beatty’s Dick Tracy (1990).—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deceptive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deceptive. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
