deceptive

adjective

de·cep·tive | \di-ˈsep-tiv

Definition of deceptive

: 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

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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

And just to make the task of hitters even harder, secondary pitches have become sharper and more deceptive. — Alex Speier, BostonGlobe.com, "What’s up with all the strikeouts in Major League Baseball?," 12 July 2018 And Trump’s ridiculous orange dye job made me see the deceptive element in hair color and want to run even farther from the bottle. — Jessica Berger Gross, Longreads, "Gone Gray," 10 July 2018 Some would argue those paying the recruits are unethical and deceptive individuals. — Michael Mccann, SI.com, "Why Maryland Receiving FBI Subpoenas Should Worry Other College Programs, Basketball Players," 7 July 2018 Further, Gorcenski’s presenting himself as a female is untruthful, mendacious and deceptive. — Ian Shapira, Washington Post, "He once defended the poor in court. Now he defends white supremacists.," 2 July 2018 These technologies will become increasingly sophisticated over a very short period of time, making it more and more difficult for average consumers to be able to recognize deceptive tactics. — Catherine F. Brooks, WIRED, "Faked Video Could End Justice by Twitter Mob," 18 June 2018 But California attorney Dennis Ingols said the court-order requirement simply led to deceptive ways to obtain one. — Mary Jo Pitzl, Arizona Republic, "'Another set of eyes': New system is a check on DCS child removals," 1 July 2018 When the Court heard the case back in March, Justice Sonia Sotomayor read the proof out loud in the courtroom for all to hear, quoting from the deceptive websites of one of the centers. — Ilyse Hogue, Marie Claire, "I'm the President of NARAL. Roe v. Wade Is in Grave Danger.," 27 June 2018 This deceptive move was done, the suit argues, because Ratner was trying to argue that Kohler showed actual malice in her accusations, removing it from the context of the current moment and implying that her sole objective was to harm him. — Dahlia Lithwick, Slate Magazine, "The fight against one mogul’s attempts to chill sexual abuse claims is the perfect test case for Hollywood’s #MeToo moment.," 3 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deceptive.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.