deceit

noun

de·​ceit di-ˈsēt 

1

: the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false or invalid : the act or practice of deceiving : deception

achieving one's goals through a web of deceit

2

: an attempt or device to deceive : trick

Her excuse turned out to be a deceit.

3

: the quality of being dishonest or misleading : the quality of being deceitful : deceitfulness

… far from deceit or guile.

—John Milton

Synonyms

• artifice
• cheating
• cozenage
• craft
• craftiness
• crookedness
• crookery
• cunning
• cunningness
• deceitfulness
• deception
• deceptiveness
• dishonesty
• dissembling
• dissimulation
• double-dealing
• dupery
• duplicity
• fakery
• foxiness
• fraud
• guile
• guilefulness
• wiliness

Examples of deceit in a Sentence

a rise to power that was marked by treachery and deceit

she's completely free of deceit

Recent Examples on the Web

Like any gadfly, Kennedy’s willingness to challenge institutions and conventional wisdom has sometimes led him to question things that needed questioning, not least during the Covid era’s riot of hubris and deceit in the public health sector. —The Editors, National Review, 29 Jan. 2025

The casual deceit that had served him in prison was proving useful. —Joshua Kaplan, ProPublica, 4 Jan. 2025

Choi created fake text messages, altered her cellphone records and ultimately destroyed her laptop and phone to try to sell her deceit, the 26-page ruling found. —Shelly Bradbury, The Denver Post, 3 Jan. 2025

But a new paper, shared exclusively with TIME ahead of its publication on Wednesday, offers some of the first evidence that today’s AIs are capable of this type of deceit. —Billy Perrigo, TIME, 18 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English deceite, from Anglo-French, from Latin decepta, feminine of deceptus, past participle of decipere — see deceive

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing deceit

• self-deceit

Kids Definition

deceit

noun

de·​ceit di-ˈsēt 

1

: the act or practice of deceiving : deception

2

: an attempt or scheme to deceive : trick

3

: the quality of being deceitful

Legal Definition

deceit

noun

de·​ceit

: deliberate and misleading concealment, false declaration, or artifice : deception

theft by deceit

also : the tort of committing or carrying out deceit

an action for deceit

see also fraud, misrepresentation