Deceit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /dɪˈsiːt/
• Rhymes: -iːt

Alternative forms

• deceipt obsolete

Origin

From Old French deceite

Full definition of deceit

Noun

1. An act or practice intended to deceive; a trickThe whole conversation was merely a deceit.
2. An act of deceiving someone
• 1998, Mike Dixon-Kennedy, Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology, Upon his return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and deceit of him and his father.
3. (uncountable) The state of being deceitful or deceptive
• 1611, King James Bible Chapter Psalms 10:7, His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.
4. (legal) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.

Synonyms

• (act or behavior intended to deceive) trick, fraud
• (act of deceiving) deception, trickery
• (state of being deceptive) underhandedness, deceptiveness, deceitfulness, dissimulation, fraudulence, trickery

Derived terms

• deceitful