# deceive vs deceptive

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### deceive
*verb · IPA /dɪˈsiːv/ · frequency rank #17,585*
To trick or mislead.

### deceptive
*adjective · IPA /dɪˈsɛp.tɪv/ · frequency rank #18,535*
Likely or attempting to deceive.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/deceive-vs-deceptive