deceptive

[ dih-sep-tiv ]
/ dɪˈsɛp tɪv /
SEE SYNONYMS FOR deceptive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

apt or tending to deceive: The enemy's peaceful overtures may be deceptive.
perceptually misleading: It looks like a curved line, but it's deceptive.

Origin of deceptive

1605–15; < Medieval Latin dēceptīvus, equivalent to Latin dēcept(us) (see deception) + -īvus -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM deceptive

Words nearby deceptive

decentralized processing, decentre, deception, deception bed, deception table, deceptive, deceptive cadence, decerebrate, decerebration, decern, decertify

Words related to deceptive

tricky, ambiguous, underhanded, deceitful, sneaky, slick, fraudulent, misleading, subtle, unreliable, disingenuous, false, bum, catchy, crafty, cunning, delusive, designing, fake, fallacious

Example sentences from the Web for deceptive

British Dictionary definitions for deceptive

deceptive
/ (dɪˈsɛptɪv) /

adjective

likely or designed to deceive; misleading appearances can be deceptive
music (of a cadence) another word for interrupted (def. 3)

Derived forms of deceptive

deceptively, adverb deceptiveness, noun