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 tequila is real, clean and not overpriced by deceptive marketing. — Hannah Seligson, Town & Country, "Where to Find the Best Tequila in Mexico," 11 June 2019 The Packers and Stockyards Act of 1921 prohibited meatpackers from engaging in unfair and deceptive practices, manipulating prices, creating monopolies or giving undue preference to particular people, businesses or places. — Isaac Arnsdorf, ProPublica, "Chicken Farmers Thought Trump Was Going to Help Them. Then His Administration Did the Opposite.," 5 June 2019 The deceptive marketing of a dangerous procedure with no proven benefit...is egregious. — Elizabeth Siegel, Allure, "Vaginal Rejuvenation Is on the Rise, But the Results Often Don't Live Up to the Hype," 27 Mar. 2019 The complaint says these practices are deceptive and ignore the explicit preferences of many Facebook users. — John D. Mckinnon, WSJ, "Facebook’s Facial Recognition Feature Violates Users’ Privacy Rights, Groups Allege," 6 Apr. 2018 The Bears were often deceptive with injury information under former coach John Fox and had never listed a neck issue for Long on their injury report. — Dan Wiederer, chicagotribune.com, "After three surgeries, Kyle Long promises to be 'flying around' when season starts," 3 Apr. 2018 Many of the strategies and techniques the would-be sellers were allegedly taught — such as posting fake product reviews — were deceptive and violated Amazon’s policies. — Katheleen Conti, BostonGlobe.com, "FTC says two Massachusetts brothers ran phony Amazon sales program," 23 Mar. 2018 The incident highlights the challenges energy companies face in meeting Washington’s stricter due-diligence guidelines for potentially deceptive shipping practices in maritime trade. — Benoit Faucon, WSJ, "Suspected Iranian Oil Caught in Sanctions Trap," 19 June 2019 But when a brand ambassador’s very existence is questionable — especially in an environment studded with deceptive deepfakes, bots and fraud — what happens to the old virtue of truth in advertising? — New York Times, "These Influencers Aren’t Flesh and Blood, Yet Millions Follow Them," 17 June 2019

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.