deceitful

US /dɪˈsitfəl/ UK /dɪˈsiːtfʊl/ See IPA manual

adj

Meanings

1

adj
given to or characterized by deceiving; dishonest

His deceitful smile masked a thoroughly treacherous heart.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · given to or characterized... dishonest deceptive duplicitous mendacious fraudulent insincere treacherous underhanded

Opposites

honest truthful sincere trustworthy candid

Word family

Derived forms deceitfullydeceitfulness

Related forms deceit deceive deception

Etymology

From deceit plus -ful. Deceit is from Old French deceite, past participle of deceveir ('to deceive'), from Latin dēcipere ('to ensnare, cheat'), from de- plus capere ('to take').

deceite Old French dēcipere Latin capere Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Ethics & Social Judgment Word Formation & Derivatives

# deceitful

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** dɪˈsitfəl
**IPA (UK):** dɪˈsiːtfʊl

## Meanings
1. given to or characterized by deceiving; dishonest

## Examples
- His deceitful smile masked a thoroughly treacherous heart.

## Synonyms
- dishonest
- deceptive
- duplicitous
- mendacious
- fraudulent
- insincere
- treacherous
- underhanded

## Antonyms
- honest
- truthful
- sincere
- trustworthy
- candid

## Derived Forms
- deceitfully
- deceitfulness

## Related Forms
- deceit
- deceive
- deception

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: deceite
- Root: dēcipere
- Root: capere

## Etymology
From deceit plus -ful. Deceit is from Old French deceite, past participle of deceveir ('to deceive'), from Latin dēcipere ('to ensnare, cheat'), from de- plus capere ('to take').

## AI Etymology
Deceitful comes from deceit plus -ful. Deceit is from Old French deceite, past participle of deceveir ('to deceive'), from Latin dēcipere ('to ensnare, cheat'), from de- plus capere ('to take'). The etymological trail includes Old French deceite, Latin dēcipere, and Latin capere. As an adjective, deceitful describes what is given to or characterized by deceiving; dishonest. The same family is visible in derived forms such as deceitfully and deceitfulness and related forms such as deceit, deceive, and deception.

## Topics
- Ethics & Social Judgment
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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