Deceptive Meaning
/dɪˈsɛp.tɪv/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
adjLikely or attempting to deceive.
Sentence Examples
Judge people not by age, but by behavior. Years are deceptive.
Appearances can be deceptive.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The calm ocean surface was ____ because a storm was coming.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Judge people not by age, but by behavior. Years are ____.
Word Origin & History
From Middle French déceptif, from Latin dēceptīvus, from dēcipiō (“to deceive”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"But others declare that no Creature can be made or tranſmuted into a better or vvorſe, or transformed into another ſpecies or ſimilitude, by man, or devill. […] Martinus [i.e., Martin] Delrio the Jeſuit accounts this degeneration of Man into a Beaſt to be an illuſion, deceptive and repugnant to Nature; for, the ſoule of man cannot informe a beaſts body, […]"
— 1653, John Bulwer, “Scene XXIIII. Cruell and Fantasticall Inventions of Men Practised upon Their Bodies in a Supposed Way of Bravery, and Wicked Practices both of Men and Devils to Alter and Deforme the Humane Fabricke”, in Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d; or, The Artificial Changling […], 2nd edition, London: […] William Hunt, →OCLC, page 521:
"[…] at the opening of the campaign, the French, after various deceptive attempts on different places, suddenly invested Tournay."
— 1789, Frederick the Great, translated by Thomas Holcroft, The History of My Own Times, London: G.G.J. and J. Robinson, Part 1, Chapter 12, p. 163:
"[…] it is characteristic of TB that many of its symptoms are deceptive—liveliness that comes from enervation, rosy cheeks that look like a sign of health but come from fever—and an upsurge of vitality may be a sign of approaching death."
— 1978, Susan Sontag, chapter 2, in Illness as Metaphor, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 13:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The calm ocean surface was ____ because a storm was coming.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Judge people not by age, but by behavior. Years are ____.