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deceit - What does it mean?

Definition of 'deceit'

English

Alternative forms

* (obsolete)

Noun

(en-noun)
  • An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick
    • The whole conversation was merely a deceit .
  • An act of deceiving someone
  • * {{quote-book|year=1998|author=Mike Dixon-Kennedy|title=Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology|page=125|pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=2U7okUE3PIcC&pg=PA125
    • |passage=Upon his return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and deceit of him and his father. }}
  • (uncountable) The state of being deceitful or deceptive
  • * {{quote-book|year=1611|title=King James Bible|chapter=Psalms 10:7
    • |passage=His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.}}
  • (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 * See also

    Derived terms

    * deceitful

    Similar to 'deceit'

    ducat, docket, dicot, dugout, doucet, dacoit, deist, doest, dight, diest, dewiest, dogshit, doocot, diquat, dijet, dogsit, dakoit, desat, decoit, dought, deest, degut, dasht, dowst, disseat, dogget, doquet, doust, docquet, dowset, digit, dyest