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

The Marquise is the most straightforward faction in terms of rules complexity, but like many things in Root, this is deceptive. — Charlie Theel, Ars Technica, "Root is a terrific—and fully asymmetric—woodland wargame," 29 Sep. 2018 Parents have complained to immigrant rights groups that authorities don’t explain what’s happening or are deceptive. — Molly Hennessy-fiske, latimes.com, "Was a breastfeeding infant really taken from an immigrant mother? The answer to this and other questions about families separated at the border," 16 June 2018 Most guys can do that, but the speed isn’t deceptive. — Alex Prewitt, SI.com, "After a Disappointing Career Start in Tampa Bay, Brett Connolly Reedems Himself as a Capital," 18 May 2018 Money confers an implicit value on things in a way that’s deceptive and very often wrong. — Julia Felsenthal, Vogue, "The Price of Everything,," 18 Oct. 2018 Just yesterday, a new report surfaced detailing the company's deceptive ad-targeting practices involving users' mobile address books. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "New Facebook Data Breach Affects 50 Million Users," 28 Sep. 2018 But rather than tip the scales towards equity, the gender swap lays bare the fact that such deceptive and manipulative behavior from anyone is inexcusable. — De Elizabeth, Teen Vogue, "I Really Tried to Like “Sierra Burgess,” But Catfishing Isn’t Romantic — It’s Harmful," 10 Sep. 2018 To discover this whole new part of myself felt almost deceptive. — Celeste Kaufman, SELF, "I’ve Become Someone Who Loves the Gym and Barely Recognize Myself Anymore," 2 Aug. 2018 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

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.