deceitful

English

Alternative forms

• deceiptful, deceiptfull, deceitfull (all obsolete)

Etymology

From deceit +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈsiːtfʊl/, /-fl̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

deceitful (comparative more deceitful, superlative most deceitful)

1. Deliberately misleading or cheating.
   • c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:

     All theſe are ſeruants to deceitfull men.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 27:6:

     Faithfull are the woundes of a friend : but the kiſſes of an enemy are deceitfull.

   • a. 1826, Thomas Moore, “This World Is All a Fleeting Show”, in The Works of Thomas Moore, stanza 1, page 471, lines 1–5:

     This world is all a fleeting show, / For man’s illusion given ; / The smiles of Joy, the tears of Woe, / Deceitful shine, deceitful flow — / There’s nothing true but Heaven !

2. Deceptive, two-faced.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:deceptive

Derived terms

• deceitfully
• deceitfulness
• nondeceitful
• undeceitful

Translations

deliberately misleading or cheating

Bulgarian: измамен (bg) (izmamen), неверен (bg) (neveren) Dutch: bedrieglijk (nl), vals (nl), misleidend (nl) Finnish: vilpillinen (fi) French: trompeur (fr) m, tricheur (fr) m German: trügerisch (de) Gothic: 𐌻𐌹𐌿𐍄𐍃 (liuts), 𐌷𐌹𐌽𐌳𐌰𐍂𐍅𐌴𐌹𐍃 (hindarweis) Greek: Ancient: δόλιος (dólios), ἀπατηλός (apatēlós) Italian: bugiardo (it) m Latin: mendāx (la), pellāx, perfidus (la) Maori: titipa Norwegian: Bokmål: villedende, svikefull (no) Portuguese: enganador (pt) m, trapaceiro (pt) m Russian: лжи́вый (ru) (lžívyj) Scottish Gaelic: breugach, meallta, mealltach Spanish: falso (es), deshonesto (es), delusivo m, delusorio m, embustero (es), cubero (es) (Dominican Republic) Swedish: bedräglig (sv), svekfull (sv), vilseledande (sv)

deceptive — see also deceptive

Bulgarian: измамнически (bg) (izmamničeski) Finnish: petollinen (fi) French: trompeur (fr) m German: trügerisch (de) Italian: bugiardo (it) m Latin: fallax Old English: ġēaplīċ Russian: обма́нчивый (ru) (obmánčivyj) Swedish: falsk (sv), vilseledande (sv) Ukrainian: обма́нливий (obmánlyvyj)

Further reading

• “deceitful”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• deceitful in Britannica Dictionary
• deceitful in WordReference English Collocations