as in misleading
tending or having power to deceive
the deceiving nature of most flat maps of the globe causes some people to believe erroneously that Greenland is actually bigger than South America
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in tricking
to cause to believe what is untrue
he went to great lengths to deceive his family about the nature of his new job at the mall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deceiving
Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Santos was sentenced to prison in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025
To begin with, looks that are deceiving.
—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025
That’s 14 years of dreaming, dissolving, romanticizing, escaping, and sometimes deceiving ourselves.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 19 Oct. 2025
The New York Republican was sentenced in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
—Philip Marcelo, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2025
But looks can be deceiving, and people might have been wrong about what kind of rodent made the now-famous imprint.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
But an apple tree can be deceiving.
—Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 14 Oct. 2025
In the decades that followed, Freeman, who died in 2025, assembled a vast array of literary fakes, collecting books whose content is deceiving in nature.
—Big Think, 13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Few things in life are more deceiving than a Week 1 game, especially those played in a rainstorm on the other side of an ocean.
—Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
Verb
Gordon warned me that this was deceiving.
—Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025
Santos was sentenced to prison in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025
To begin with, looks that are deceiving.
—Lizz Schumer, PEOPLE, 21 Oct. 2025
That’s 14 years of dreaming, dissolving, romanticizing, escaping, and sometimes deceiving ourselves.
—Dossé-Via Trenou, Refinery29, 19 Oct. 2025
The New York Republican was sentenced in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
—Philip Marcelo, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2025
But looks can be deceiving, and people might have been wrong about what kind of rodent made the now-famous imprint.
—Julia Gomez, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025
But an apple tree can be deceiving.
—Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 14 Oct. 2025
In the decades that followed, Freeman, who died in 2025, assembled a vast array of literary fakes, collecting books whose content is deceiving in nature.
—Big Think, 13 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deceiving
Adjective
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This, in turn, creates a feedback loop where accurate, trustworthy information is rewarded while low-quality or potentially misleading content loses influence.—
Matthew Kayser,
USA Today,
4 Nov. 2025
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The idea is to prevent ads containing false or misleading material that can potentially hurt someone.—
Sydney Lupkin,
NPR,
4 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Growing tulips indoors in pots uses a technique called forcing—tricking the bulb and plant into blooming.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Oct. 2025
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How to protect yourself from AI phishing scams AI phishing scams rely on tricking people into trusting what looks and sounds real.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Tuesday, brings claims for deceptive practices and false advertising, among others.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Nov. 2025
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The complaints allow the public to report unfair or deceptive business practices, according to the agency’s website, and can prompt investigations from the office.—
Nicole Blanchard,
Idaho Statesman,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Anyone who predicted this Titans team to win more than four or five games was fooling themselves, and even those predictions are coming off over-optimistic.—
Nick Suss,
Nashville Tennessean,
3 Nov. 2025
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Either Michigan is fooling everyone in college football, or the Wolverines are fooling themselves.—
Austin Meek,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Adjective
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The title-winning standard has been lower in recent years; City won it with 86, 93, 89 and 91 points between 2020-21 and 2023-24 and Liverpool with 84 points last season, but some of those totals give a false impression.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
8 Nov. 2025
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The month prior, she was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison for using marijuana while owning a firearm and making false statements about drug use, per the newspaper.—
Christopher Rudolph,
PEOPLE,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deceiving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deceiving. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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