deceit

noun

de·​ceit di-ˈsēt 

1

: the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid : the act or practice of deceiving : deception

achieving one's goals through a web of deceit

2

: an attempt or device to deceive : trick

Her excuse turned out to be a deceit.

3

: the quality of being dishonest or misleading : the quality of being deceitful : deceitfulness

… far from deceit or guile.

—John Milton

Synonyms

• artifice
• cheating
• cozenage
• craft
• craftiness
• crookedness
• crookery
• cunning
• cunningness
• deceitfulness
• deception
• deceptiveness
• dishonesty
• dissembling
• dissimulation
• double-dealing
• dupery
• duplicity
• fakery
• foxiness
• fraud
• guile
• guilefulness
• wiliness

Examples of deceit in a Sentence

a rise to power that was marked by treachery and deceit

she's completely free of deceit

Recent Examples on the Web

Defense attorney Alan Jackson told the jury the collision never happened, and the investigation into Read was riddled with errors, bias, incompetence and deceit from the start. —N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today, 24 Apr. 2025

In economic markets, maintaining a consumer’s freedom of choice requires regulations against coercion and deceit. —Michael Gregory, The Conversation, 17 Apr. 2025

The temptation to simulate human expressiveness through technology only deepens this disconnect, opening the door to manipulation and deceit rather than fostering meaningful connection. —Sarah A. Bell, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Apr. 2025

But he’s never had a bigger accomplice in deceit than Donald Trump. ‘Live within the truth’ By participating in the moral and factual inversions that Putin has deployed for his invasion of Ukraine, the Trump administration isn’t setting itself up as some sort of evenhanded broker to end the war. —Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 27 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deceite, from Anglo-French, from Latin decepta, feminine of deceptus, past participle of decipere — see deceive

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing deceit

• self-deceit

Rhymes for deceit

• amit
• athlete
• backseat
• blackfeet
• broadsheet
• browbeat
• buckwheat
• compete
• compleat
• complete
• conceit
• concrete

Kids Definition

deceit

noun

de·​ceit di-ˈsēt 

1

: the act or practice of deceiving : deception

2

: an attempt or scheme to deceive : trick

3

: the quality of being deceitful

Legal Definition

deceit

noun

de·​ceit

: deliberate and misleading concealment, false declaration, or artifice : deception

theft by deceit

also : the tort of committing or carrying out deceit

an action for deceit

see also fraud, misrepresentation