deceptive
adjective
de·cep·tive
di-ˈsep-tiv 
: 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
deceptively
adverb
deceptiveness
noun
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
Manaea’s delivery is deceptive because there is crossfire action from a low slot.
—
Will Sammon, New York Times, 5 June 2026
Legal and privacy concerns The lawsuit accuses Amazon of violating the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits deceptive and unfair business practices.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 4 June 2026
The alert from the grouping — made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US — reflected concern that Beijing is using AI to flood recruitment sites with deceptive offers in order to tap into sensitive data and information.
—Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 4 June 2026
Twitter was found to be using phone numbers that people submitted for two-factor authentication for ad targeting, which the FTC flagged as a deceptive practice.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
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Will Sammon, New York Times, 5 June 2026
Legal and privacy concerns The lawsuit accuses Amazon of violating the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits deceptive and unfair business practices.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 4 June 2026
The alert from the grouping — made up of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US — reflected concern that Beijing is using AI to flood recruitment sites with deceptive offers in order to tap into sensitive data and information.
—Jeronimo Gonzalez, semafor.com, 4 June 2026
Twitter was found to be using phone numbers that people submitted for two-factor authentication for ad targeting, which the FTC flagged as a deceptive practice.
—Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for deceptive
Cite this Entry
“Deceptive.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deceptive. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
deceptive
adjective
de·cep·tive
di-ˈsep-tiv
: tending or having power to deceive : misleading
a deceptive appearance
deceptively
adverb
deceptiveness
noun
Legal Definition
deceptive
adjective
de·cep·tive
di-ˈsep-tiv
: tending or having capacity to deceive
deceptive trade practices
compare fraudulent, misleading
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