deceptive
/dɪˈsɛp.tɪv/adjective
deceptive is spelled D-E-C-E-P-T-I-V-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, deceptive means “Likely or attempting to deceive” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in deceptive?
| Letters | 9: D-E-C-E-P-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.2 times per million words; the 18,537th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is deceptive?
Deceptive appears 2.2 times per million words in written English, the 18,537th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce deceptive?
- /dɪˈsɛp.tɪv/
Deceptive has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-deceptive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of deceptive
- more deceptive comparative
- most deceptive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does deceptive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Likely or attempting to deceive.
deceptive practices
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Deceptive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense misleading, attempting to deceive:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | trompeur, qui induit en erreur, illusoire, mensonger, déceptif |
| German | betrügerisch, irreführend, trügerisch |
| Portuguese | enganoso, enganador |
| Spanish | engañoso, engañador, delusorio, decebiente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does deceptive come from?
From Middle French déceptif, from Latin dēceptīvus, from dēcipiō (“to deceive”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).