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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Deceive \De*ceive"\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Deceived}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Deceiving}.] [OE. deceveir, F. d['e]cevoir, fr. L. decipere to catch, insnare, deceive; de- + capere to take, catch. See {Capable}, and cf. {Deceit}, {Deception}.]
1. To lead into error; to cause to believe what is false, or disbelieve what is true; to impose upon; to mislead; to cheat; to disappoint; to delude; to insnare.
Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. --2 Tim. iii. 13.
Nimble jugglers that deceive the eye. --Shak.
What can 'scape the eye Of God all-seeing, or deceive his heart? --Milton.
2. To beguile; to amuse, so as to divert the attention; to while away; to take away as if by deception.
These occupations oftentimes deceived The listless hour. --Wordsworth.
3. To deprive by fraud or stealth; to defraud. [Obs.]
Plant fruit trees in large borders, and set therein fine flowers, but thin and sparingly, lest they deceive the trees. --Bacon.
Syn: {Deceive}, {Delude}, {Mislead}.
Usage: Deceive is a general word applicable to any kind of misrepresentation affecting faith or life. To delude, primarily, is to make sport of, by deceiving, and is accomplished by playing upon one's imagination or credulity, as by exciting false hopes, causing him to undertake or expect what is impracticable, and making his failure ridiculous. It implies some infirmity of judgment in the victim, and intention to deceive in the deluder. But it is often used reflexively, indicating that a person's own weakness has made him the sport of others or of fortune; as, he deluded himself with a belief that luck would always favor him. To mislead is to lead, guide, or direct in a wrong way, either willfully or ignorantly.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
deceive
verb
1: be false to; be dishonest with [syn: {lead on}, {delude}, {cozen}]
2: cause someone to believe an untruth; "The insurance company deceived me when they told me they were covering my house" [syn: {betray}, {lead astray}] [ant: {undeceive}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
108 Moby Thesaurus words for "deceive": abuse, bamboozle, be untruthful, befool, beguile, betray, bitch, bluff, bunk, cajole, cheat, cheat on, circumvent, con, conjure, cozen, debauch, defile, deflower, defraud, delude, despoil, diddle, do, dodge, double-cross, draw the longbow, dupe, elude, equivocate, evade, exaggerate, falsify, fib, finesse, foil, fool, force, forestall, four-flush, frustrate, gammon, get around, get round, give the runaround, give the slip, go one better, gull, hoax, hocus-pocus, hoodwink, hornswaggle, humbug, impose on, impose upon, inveigle, juggle, lead astray, lead on, let down, lie, lie flatly, mislead, mock, outfigure, outflank, outgeneral, outguess, outmaneuver, outplay, outreach, outsmart, outwit, overreach, pass the buck, pigeon, play one false, prevaricate, put, put something over, rape, ravage, ravish, ruin, seduce, sell out, shift, shift about, snow, soil, speak falsely, spoof, stonewall, story, stretch the truth, string along, suck in, sully, swindle, take, take in, tell a lie, throw off, trick, twist and turn, two-time, victimize, violate
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