Meanings
comparative more deceitful · superlative most deceitful · alternative obsolete deceiptful · alternative obsolete deceiptfull · alternative obsolete deceitfull
- Deliberately misleading or cheating.
All theſe are ſeruants to deceitfull men.
c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]2 more examples
Faithfull are the woundes of a friend : but the kiſſes of an enemy are deceitfull.
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 27:6This world is all a fleeting show, / For man’s illusion given ; / The smiles of Joy, the tears of Woe, / Deceitful shine, deceitful flow — / There’s nothing true but Heaven !
a. 1826, Thomas Moore, “This World Is All a Fleeting Show”, in The Works of Thomas Moore, stanza 1, page 471, lines 1–5
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveinvolving deception
adjectivemarked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Ancient Greek δόλιος, ἀπατηλός
- δόλιος (dólios)deliberately misleading or cheating
- ἀπατηλός (apatēlós)deliberately misleading or cheating
Bulgarian измамен, неверен
- измамен (izmamen)deliberately misleading or cheating
- неверен (neveren)deliberately misleading or cheating
- измамнически (izmamničeski)deceptive — see also deceptive
Catalan mentider
- mentiderdeliberately misleading or cheating
Dutch bedrieglijk, vals
- bedrieglijkdeliberately misleading or cheating
- valsdeliberately misleading or cheating
- misleidenddeliberately misleading or cheating
Finnish vilpillinen, petollinen
- vilpillinendeliberately misleading or cheating
- petollinendeceptive — see also deceptive
French trompeur, tricheur
- trompeurdeliberately misleading or cheating
- tricheurdeliberately misleading or cheating
- trompeurdeceptive — see also deceptive
German trügerisch, trügerisch
- trügerischdeliberately misleading or cheating
- trügerischdeceptive — see also deceptive
Hindi ढोंगी, ढोंगी
- ढोंगी (ḍhoṅgī)deliberately misleading or cheating
- ढोंगी (ḍhoṅgī)deceptive — see also deceptive
Irish fealltach
- fealltachdeliberately misleading or cheating
Italian bugiardo, bugiardo
- bugiardodeliberately misleading or cheating
- bugiardodeceptive — see also deceptive
Latin mendāx, pellāx
- mendāxdeliberately misleading or cheating
- pellāxdeliberately misleading or cheating
- perfidusdeliberately misleading or cheating
- fallaxdeceptive — see also deceptive
Māori titipa
- titipadeliberately misleading or cheating
Norwegian Bokmål villedende, svikefull
- villedendedeliberately misleading or cheating
- svikefulldeliberately misleading or cheating
Portuguese enganador, trapaceiro
- enganadordeliberately misleading or cheating
- trapaceirodeliberately misleading or cheating
Russian лжи́вый, обма́нчивый
- лжи́вый (lžívyj)deliberately misleading or cheating
- обма́нчивый (obmánčivyj)deceptive — see also deceptive
Scottish Gaelic breugach, meallta
- breugachdeliberately misleading or cheating
- mealltadeliberately misleading or cheating
- mealltachdeliberately misleading or cheating
Spanish delusorio, embustero
- delusoriodeliberately misleading or cheating
- embusterodeliberately misleading or cheating
- cuberodeliberately misleading or cheating
Swedish bedräglig, svekfull
- bedrägligdeliberately misleading or cheating
- svekfulldeliberately misleading or cheating
- vilseledandedeliberately misleading or cheating
- falskdeceptive — see also deceptive
- vilseledandedeceptive — see also deceptive
Ukrainian обма́нливий
- обма́нливий (obmánlyvyj)deceptive — see also deceptive
Welsh twyllodrus, dichellgar
- twyllodrusdeliberately misleading or cheating
- dichellgardeliberately misleading or cheating
Cite this entry
deceitful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deceitful
“deceitful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deceitful. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deceitful,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deceitful.
Source: deceitful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.