Definition of: deception

(di·sep′shən) noun
1. The act of deceiving.
2. The state of being deceived.
3. Anything that deceives or is meant to deceive; a delusion. [<L deceptio, -onis <decipere. See DECEIVE.] Synonyms: craft, cunning, deceit, deceitfulness, delusion, dissimulation, double–dealing, duplicity, fabrication, falsehood, finesse, fraud, guile, hypocrisy, imposition, lie, lying, pre-varication, trickery, untruth. Deceit is especially applied to the habit, deception to the act; guile applies to the disposition out of which deceit and deception grow, and also to their actual practice. A lie, lying, or falsehood is the uttering of what one knows to be false with intent to deceive. Untruth is more than lack of accuracy, implying always lack of veracity; but it is a somewhat milder and more dignified word than lie. Falsehood and lying are in utterance; deceit and deception may be merely in act or implication. Deception may be innocent, and even unintentional, as in the case of an optical illusion; deceit always involves injurious intent. Craft and cunning have not necessarily any moral quality; they are common traits of animals, but stand rather low in the human scale. Duplicity is the habitual speaking or acting with intent to appear to mean what one does not. Dissimulation is rather a concealing of what is than a pretense of what is not. Finesse is simply an adroit and delicate management of a matter for one's own side, not necessarily involving deceit. Compare FRAUD. LIE. Antonyms: candor, frankness, guilelessness, honesty, openness, simplicity, sincerity, truth, veracity.