DECEIVING Synonyms: 169 Similar and Opposite Words

deceiving 1 of 2

adjective

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

deceiving

2 of 2

verb

present participle of deceive

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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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

Adjective

In our experience, these mid-sized sets can be very deceiving. — Fran Ruiz, Space.com, 19 Dec. 2025 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

Your eyes aren't deceiving you — the little delivery robots rolling down Washington DC streets are becoming a more common sight. — Mike Stunson, USA Today, 28 Aug. 2026 Oura is facing accusations of deceiving customers about the accuracy of its sleep-tracking features on its popular smart rings. — James Peckham, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026 Paul has long accused Fauci of deceiving Americans about the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. — Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 29 July 2026 The ensuing investigation ultimately revealed that Angela had framed Hadley and uncovered evidence of her long history of deceiving people to gain sympathy. — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 23 July 2026 All the wig and makeup work put into deceiving their people isn’t needed in the first place. — Michael Ashley, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026 Those figures, though, are a bit deceiving; infant and childhood mortality dragged them down dramatically. — Adam Cohen, Oklahoman, 30 June 2026 Appearance, though, can be deceiving, but luckily, this shed is still packed with smart features and a clever design that will keep all your belongings safe. — Shea Simmons, Southern Living, 29 June 2026 Here, however, the joke is that appearances can be deceiving — or to be more specific, that trying to act like a character in a movie is a reckless, unwise thing to do. — Elena Lazic, Variety, 26 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for deceiving

Adjective

But in an interview with NPR last year, Patterson said the projection can create a misleading impression when used as a general-purpose world map.

— Jewel Bright, NPR, 4 Sep. 2026
The White House’s misleading stats on oil shipments from the Gulf.

— Jim Edwards, Fortune, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of misleading

Verb

In many cases, the robot tail wags the living dog by tricking it—tricking us—into caring about obscure metrics, then gamifying the process of improving them.

— Hillary Busis, Vanity Fair, 28 Aug. 2026
Children were taken by tricking mothers, who were told their baby had died during childbirth.

— Ashoka, Forbes.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of tricking

Adjective

The technology was also tested against deceptive behaviour, an in a different scenario, fishing boats appeared to retreat while vessels from another direction accelerated toward the coastguard ship.

— Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026
The siblings are likely to dispute Jeanie’s characterization of their actions as deceptive and clandestine, perhaps by pointing to communications with their sister and her responses.

— Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of deceptive

Verb

Anybody hoping that a Netanyahu defeat in October and the emergence of a less controversial successor will reset the table is likely fooling themselves.

— Daniel DePetris, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026
Throughout all the commotion, Romelu Lukaku acted as decoy, holding on to the ball, fooling everyone, including the TV producer, who pulled up a graphic showing his recent penalty record.

— Geir Jordet, New York Times, 15 July 2026

Definition of fooling

Adjective

The lawsuit filed by two former employees contains allegations that are false, misleading, and unsupported by credible evidence.

— Devon Henderson, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2026
Zucker provided false and misleading statements to investigators, according to a summary of findings released Wednesday.

— Dan Mangan, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026

Definition of false

Browse Nearby Words

deceives

deceiving

decelerate

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“Deceiving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deceiving. Accessed 5 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of deceiving

adjective

verb

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