Deceptive means giving an impression that is not the truth. Deceptively simple, deceptive appearances, deceptive practices.
It does not require intent — deep water can be deceptive — which separates it from dishonest. Deceptively is genuinely ambiguous: deceptively shallow can mean shallower or deeper than it looks, and careful writing avoids it. In trade law, deceptive practices are actionable whether or not anybody meant to mislead. Note deceive, deception.
1adjectivedeceptiveGiving an impression that is not the truth.
“The calm surface of the river is deceptive; the current underneath is very strong.”
synonyms: misleading, false
deceptive is a quality of misleading.
Latin deceptivus comes from decipere, to deceive — de plus capere, to take. Capture, receive and conceive come from the same taking.
Proto-Indo-European
*kap-
Latin
dēceptīvus
Middle French
déceptif
English, today
deceptive
Built from
From Middle French déceptif, from Latin dēceptīvus, from dēcipiō (“to deceive”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA