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
Relevance
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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deceiving
Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025
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
Two culinary pros gave us the real scoop about how certain vanilla bean ice creams have been deceiving us all these years.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2025
Opening arguments are set to begin Tuesday's in the FTC's lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly deceiving tens of millions of customers into signing up for Prime and thwarting their attempts to cancel it.
—Matthew J. Belvedere,jeff Marks, CNBC, 23 Sep. 2025
Topline The Federal Trade Commission and seven states filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation on Thursday, accusing the ticket sellers of deceiving artists and consumers by allowing consumers to buy large numbers of tickets and resell them for much higher prices.
—Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 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
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
Two culinary pros gave us the real scoop about how certain vanilla bean ice creams have been deceiving us all these years.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2025
Opening arguments are set to begin Tuesday's in the FTC's lawsuit against Amazon for allegedly deceiving tens of millions of customers into signing up for Prime and thwarting their attempts to cancel it.
—Matthew J. Belvedere,jeff Marks, CNBC, 23 Sep. 2025
Topline The Federal Trade Commission and seven states filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation on Thursday, accusing the ticket sellers of deceiving artists and consumers by allowing consumers to buy large numbers of tickets and resell them for much higher prices.
—Conor Murray, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deceiving
Adjective
-
Their arrest followed The Osefos allegedly making false and misleading claims after an April 2024 burglary at their family home that led to the insurance fraud criminal charges.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Judge calls for use of body cameras Credibility questions have long trailed law enforcement agencies, whether federal or local, and police statements immediately after an arrest have occasionally proved to be incorrect or misleading.—
Josh Campbell,
CNN Money,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
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
-
Some have also used the hashtag #homelessman to post their videos, all of which center on the idea of tricking people into believing that there is a stranger inside their home.—
Maura Murphy,
NBC news,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Dealers and lenders have long engaged in deceptive and predatory practices that jack up prices for car buyers in order to line their pockets.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 Oct. 2025
-
This looks like an attempt to clean up their devastated public image following the Federal Trade Commission’s strong BOTS Act and deceptive practices case against them.—
Jem Aswad,
Variety,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
From footage of rabbits jumping on trampolines to babies walking from birth, some videos are easy to spot while others are fooling audiences.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
-
As Rolling Stone has previously reported, bogus images of classic rockers in hospitals or singing at the graves of other rockers have flooded the internet — fooling some fans in the process and provoking laughs in just as many.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
21 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Several residents who work in the Georgia King Village area weighed in on the incident, including Harriette Guity, who told News12 that false reports based on AI could stretch first responders thin.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Archaeologists concluded the structure was actually a false tomb, or a cenotaph, a type of burial monument erected to honor a deceased person buried elsewhere.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deceiving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deceiving. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share