Using one or the other depends on what we mean. Both of them come from the verb deceive, which means make someone believe something that is not true. We can lie to someone, and that’s a way of deceiving them, or we may not say something when they think something else is true, and in fact it isn’t.
From “deceive” we get two adjectives: deceptive and deceitful. What’s the difference between them? In Spanish both adjectives mean “engañoso, falso”, which doesn’t clarify things a lot.
We use deceitful when we describe someone’s actions. It implies that it is morally wrong because it is done on purpose. Our intention is to deceive someone. Let’s consider some examples.
- “Pretending you didn’t know anything about the theft was deceitful.”
- “He convinced her with his deceitful manners and she finally accepted.”
- “Her deceitful explanations made us buy something we didn’t really need.”
Deceptive is not as bad as deceitful because it means misleading, tending to deceive, but not necessarily on purpose. Maybe with some examples things get clear.
- “Appearances may be deceptive.”( Judging people at first sight may make us get a false impression.)
- “Be careful with this highway, it is deceptive” ( It is not as safe and easy as it seems.)
- “The deceptive resemblance of these two flowers may lead us to think they are the same species, but they are not.”
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