诈
deceive; pretend; probe
Meanings
3 senses · 15 examplesverb
to deceive; to swindle; to trick
neutralUsed for lying to gain an advantage or steal property, often used in formal or neutral contexts.
He swindled the old man out of all his savings with lies.
A merchant's fraudulent profit-seeking behavior via fake promotions was exposed.
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Deception in war is not a disgrace is a commonly used ancient military strategy.
Do not be deceived by other people's smooth-talking lies.
That swindler won a large sum of money by cheating at gambling.
verb
to pretend; to feign; to fake
neutralUsed to describe deliberately pretending to be in a certain state or situation, often used in formal or narrative contexts.
The enemy army pretended to surrender and launched a surprise attack.
The injured fox faked its death and tricked the hunter.
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He pretended to faint to avoid this boring meeting.
The actor faked an injury to claim compensation from the film crew.
He pretended to be a doctor and won the trust of the patients.
verb
to probe with trick questions; to try to get someone to talk
informalUsed in spoken language to describe deliberately using deceptive words to make someone reveal their true thoughts or information.
He was testing me with trick words, and I knew he was probing me as soon as I heard it.
The police used a deceptive interrogation method to make the suspect tell the truth.
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Don't try to trick me with words, I won't say anything.
He deliberately tricked his friend to see if they would lend him money.
The wife tricked her husband into thinking she was sick to test his reaction.