Basic Details
Word: Deception
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: The act of making someone believe something that is not true; a trick meant to mislead.
Synonyms: trickery, deceit, fraud, pretence
Antonyms: honesty, truthfulness
How to Spell Deception
Syllables: de - cep - tion
Tricky part: The ei of deceive disappears: deception is c-e-p-t-i-o-n. Students also write s for the c sound (deseption).
Watch out for: deseption, desception, decepsion
Memory tip: Deceive turns into deception the same way receive turns into reception. If you can spell reception, change r-e to d-e.
Usage Examples
Example 1: The spy's plan depended on deception from start to finish.
Example 2: Copying in an exam is a form of deception.
Example 3: The mirror maze at the fair is full of clever deception.
Fun Fact
In the Second World War, the Allies used inflatable rubber tanks and fake radio messages in a deception plan to hide where they would land in France in 1944.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word deception as used in the sentence:
The entire sale offer was built on deception, as the prices had been raised first.
a) deceit
b) honesty
c) fraud
d) trickery
Show answer
b) honesty. Honesty means telling the truth, the reverse of a trick.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the word in the sentence and choose it:
The optical illusion was a clever piece of tepicodne.
a) perception
b) reception
c) detection
d) deception
Show answer
d) deception. There is a d and only one t, so reception, perception and detection are ruled out.
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
de_ep_ion
a) s, t
b) s, s
c) c, s
d) c, t
Show answer
d) c, t. It is built like reception: c for the s sound, then pt before ion.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these is an act of deception?
a) blaming the cat for a broken vase
b) returning a lost wallet
c) helping a friend with homework
d) saying sorry for a mistake
Show answer
a) blaming the cat for a broken vase
2. Deception comes from which verb?
a) deceive
b) decline
c) decide
d) descend
Show answer
a) deceive
