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Definitions for: Deception
[n] an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers
[n] the act of deceiving
[n] a misleading falsehood
Webster (1913) Definition: De*cep"tion, n. [F. d['e]ception, L. deceptio, fr.
decipere, deceptum. See Deceive.]
1. The act of deceiving or misleading. --South.
2. The state of being deceived or misled.
There is one thing relating either to the action or
enjoyments of man in which he is not liable to
deception. --South.
3. That which deceives or is intended to deceive; false
representation; artifice; cheat; fraud.
There was of course room for vast deception.
--Motley.
Syn: Deception, Deceit, Fraud, Imposition.
Usage: Deception usually refers to the act, and deceit to the
habit of the mind; hence we speak of a person as
skilled in deception and addicted to deceit. The
practice of deceit springs altogether from design, and
that of the worst kind; but a deception does not
always imply aim and intention. It may be undesigned
or accidental. An imposition is an act of deception
practiced upon some one to his annoyance or injury; a
fraud implies the use of stratagem, with a view to
some unlawful gain or advantage.
Synonyms: conjuration, conjuring trick, deceit, deceit, dissembling, dissimulation, illusion, legerdemain, magic, magic trick, misrepresentation, trick
See Also: blind, bluff, card trick, cheat, cheating, chicanery, delusion, dissembling, double-dealing, duplicity, duplicity, equivocation, evasion, exaggeration, facade, fakery, false statement, falsehood, falsification, falsity, feigning, feigning, four flush, fraudulence, guile, half-truth, hanky panky, head game, hocus-pocus, impersonation, imposture, indirection, jiggery-pokery, magnification, misrepresentaation, obscurantism, overstatement, performance, prestidigitation, pretence, pretence, pretending, pretense, pretense, shenanigan, simulation, skulduggery, skullduggery, sleight of hand, slickness, snow job, subterfuge, trickery, trickery, untruth, wile, window dressing
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