deceitful
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Adjective: 1. Marked by deliberate deceptiveness: Characterized by the intent to mislead, trick, or cheat someone. This often involves pretending to have one set of feelings or intentions while secretly acting on another. 2. Intended to deceive: Designed or calculated to create a false impression or belief.
Examples
- She was a deceitful scheming little thing.
- The company was fined for deceitful advertising that exaggerated the product's benefits.
- His deceitful behavior, promising support while secretly undermining the project, destroyed trust within the team.
- The surface of the pond was smooth, shining, and deceitful as thin ice.
Advanced Usage
- "Deceitful practices": This phrase is commonly used in legal, business, or formal contexts to describe systematically dishonest methods.
- The investigation uncovered a pattern of deceitful practices within the corporation.
- "Deceitful by nature": Used to describe a person whose character is fundamentally dishonest.
- The character in the novel is portrayed as inherently deceitful by nature.
Variants and Related Words
- Deceit (n): The act or practice of deceiving.
- His apology was just another form of deceit.
- Deceitfully (adv): In a deceitful manner.
- He deceitfully obtained the information.
- Deceitfulness (n): The quality of being deceitful.
- Her deceitfulness eventually cost her all her friends.
Synonyms
- Dishonest: Behaving in a way that is not honest, typically for personal gain.
- Deceptive: Giving an appearance or impression different from the true one; misleading.
- Duplicitous: Deceitful in speech or conduct, marked by duplicity (double-dealing).
- Two-faced: Insincere and deceitful (informal).
- Fraudulent: Obtained, done by, or involving deception, especially criminal deception.
Antonyms
- Honest: Free of deceit; truthful and sincere.
- Truthful: Telling or expressing the truth.
- Sincere: Free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.
- Forthright: Direct and outspoken; straightforward.
Related Idioms and Phrases
- To be full of deceit: To be completely untrustworthy and dishonest.
- His charming smile hid a heart that was full of deceit.
- A web of deceit: A complex, interconnected series of lies and deceptions.
- The scandal involved a tangled web of deceit that reached the highest levels of government.
Adjective
- marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another
- she was a deceitful scheming little thing- Israel Zangwill
- a double-dealing double agent
- a double-faced infernal traitor and schemer- W.M.Thackeray
- intended to deceive
- deceitful advertising
- fallacious testimony
- smooth, shining, and deceitful as thin ice - S.T.Coleridge
- a fraudulent scheme to escape paying taxes