deceptive

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

adjective causing one to believe what is not true or fail to believe what is true
adjective designed to deceive or mislead either deliberately or inadvertently

From Middle French déceptif, from Latin dēceptīvus, from dēcipiō (“to deceive”).

The night shadows were deceptive. — The Boy Scouts Book of Campfire Stories, Unknown
Geometry is deceptive; the hurricane alone is trustworthy. — Les Misérables, Victor Hugo
The wigs of flowing hair were perfectly deceptive. — The best short stories of 1920, and the yearbook of the American short story, Unknown

delusory

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