Definition

1. Verb:
   • To dupe, to deceive: To trick someone cunningly and dishonestly, often for personal gain or advantage. The action involves deliberate manipulation to make someone believe something that is not true.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Hắn lừa gạt nhiều người bằng những lời hứa hão huyền. (He duped many people with empty promises.)
  • Đừng để bị lừa gạt bởi những chiêu trò đó. (Don't be deceived by those tricks.)
  • Công ty đó bị cáo buộc lừa gạt khách hàng. (That company is accused of deceiving customers.)

Advanced Usage

• "lừa gạt lẫn nhau": to deceive each other.

  • Trong thế giới kinh doanh đầy cạnh tranh, đôi khi họ lừa gạt lẫn nhau. (In the highly competitive business world, they sometimes deceive each other.)

• "hành vi lừa gạt": deceptive behavior / act of deception.

  • Hành vi lừa gạt đó đã bị pháp luật trừng trị. (That deceptive act was punished by law.)

Variants and Related Words

• Lừa dối (verb): To deceive, to cheat. (A close synonym, often used interchangeably, though can imply a more cunning or treacherous aspect).
• Lừa đảo (verb): To swindle, to defraud. (Specifically implies fraud, often in financial or legal contexts).
• Gian lận (verb): To commit fraud, to be dishonest. (Broader term for fraudulent activities).
• Bịp bợm (adjective/verb): Deceitful, swindling. (Colloquial, describing a deceitful person or action).

Synonyms

• Đánh lừa: To trick, to fool.
• Lừa bịp: To swindle, to con. (Colloquial).
• Gạt: To dupe, to trick. (The second part of the compound ).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

• Lừa gạt để chiếm đoạt: To deceive in order to appropriate/seize.
  • Bọn tội phạm lừa gạt để chiếm đoạt tài sản của người già. (The criminals deceived to appropriate the property of the elderly.)

Related Idioms

• "Lừa gạt như thần": To deceive masterfully/as skillfully as a god. (Emphasizes extreme cunning in deception).

  • Tên buôn lậu đó lừa gạt như thần, qua mặt được cảnh sát nhiều lần. (That smuggler deceived masterfully, evading the police many times.)

• "Treo đầu dê, bán thịt chó": Literally "Hang up a goat's head, sell dog meat." (An idiom meaning to engage in blatant deception or fraud, to misrepresent what is being sold).

  • Cửa hàng đó treo đầu dê bán thịt chó, toàn là hàng giả. (That shop is completely deceptive, selling all fake goods.)

1. Dupe, deceive