deceit

Meaning

Noun

• An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick.
• An act of deceiving someone.
• The state of being deceitful or deceptive.
• 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.

Related

Similar words

• trick, fraud
• deception, trickery
• underhandedness, deceptiveness, deceitfulness, dissimulation, fraudulence, trickery

Origin

• From Middle English deceyte, from Old French deceite, deçoite, from decevoir, from Latin decipio ("to cheat, mislead").