DECEIT

deception, deceit, dissembling, dissimulation

(noun) the act of deceiving

fraudulence, deceit

(noun) the quality of being fraudulent

deceit, misrepresentation, deception

(noun) a misleading falsehood

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

deceit (plural deceits)

An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.

An act of deceiving someone.

(uncountable) The state of being deceitful or deceptive.

(legal) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.

Synonyms

• (act or behavior intended to deceive): trick, fraud

• (act of deceiving): deception, trickery

• (state of being deceptive): underhandedness, deceptiveness, deceitfulness, dissimulation, fraudulence, trickery

• See also deception

Source: Wiktionary


De*ceit", n. Etym: [OF. deceit, des, decept (cf. deceite, de), fr. L. deceptus deception, fr. decipere. See Deceive.]

1. An attempt or disposition to deceive or lead into error; any declaration, artifice, or practice, which misleads another, or causes him to believe what is false; a contrivance to entrap; deception; a wily device; fraud. Making the ephah small and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit. Amos viii. 5. Friendly to man, far from deceit or guile. Milton. Yet still we hug the dear deceit. N. Cotton.

2. (Law)

Definition: Any trick, collusion, contrivance, false representation, or underhand practice, used to defraud another. When injury is thereby effected, an action of deceit, as it called, lies for compensation.

Syn.

– Deception; fraud; imposition; duplicity; trickery; guile; falsifying; double-dealing; stratagem. See Deception.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

22 February 2025

ANALYSIS

(noun) the use of closed-class words instead of inflections: e.g., ‘the father of the bride’ instead of ‘the bride’s father’


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Coffee Trivia

An article published in Harvard Men’s Health Watch in 2012 shows heavy coffee drinkers live longer. The researchers examined data from 400,000 people and found out that men who drank six or more coffee cups per day had a 10% lower death rate.

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