N. deception, falseness, untruth, imposition, imposture, fraud, deceit, guile, fraudulence, fraudulency, covin, knavery, misrepresentation, bluff, straw-bail, straw bid, spoof*, delusion, gullery, juggling, jugglery, slight of hand, legerdemain, prestigiation|, prestidigitation, magic, conjuring, conjuration, hocus-pocus, escamoterie, jockeyship, trickery, coggery|, chicanery, supercherie, cozenage, circumvention, ingannation|, collusion, treachery, practical joke, trick, cheat, wile, blind, feint, plant, bubble, fetch, catch, chicane, juggle, reach, hocus, bite, card sharping, stacked deck, loaded dice, quick shuffle, double dealing, dealing seconds, dealing from the bottom of the deck, artful dodge, swindle, tricks upon travelers, stratagem, confidence trick, fake, hoax, theft, ballot-box stuffing barney*, brace* game, bunko game, drop* game, gum* game, panel game, shell game, thimblerig, skin* game, snare, trap, pitfall, decoy, gin, springe, springle|, noose, hoot, bait, decoy-duck, tub to the whale, baited trap, guet-a-pens, cobweb, net, meshes, toils, mouse trap, birdlime, dionaea, venus's flytrap, ambush, trapdoor, sliding panel, false bottom, spring-net, spring net, spring gun, mask, masked battery, mine, flytrap, green goods, panel house, cornish hug, wolf in sheep's clothing, disguise, disguisement, false colors, masquerade, mummery, borrowed plumes, pattes de velours, mockery, copy, counterfeit, sham, make- believe, forgery, fraud, lie, "a delusion a mockery and a snare", hollow mockery, whited sepulcher, painted sepulcher, tinsel, paste, junk jewelry, costume jewelry, false jewelry, synthetic jewels, scagliola, ormolu, german silver, albata, paktong, white metal, britannia metal, paint, veneer, jerry building, man of straw, illusion, ignis fatuus, mirage

V. deceive, take in, defraud, cheat, jockey, do, cozen, diddle, nab, chouse, play one false, bilk, cully, jilt, bite, pluck, swindle, victimize, abuse, mystify, blind one's eyes, blindfold, hoodwink, throw dust into the eyes, dupe, gull, hoax, fool, befool, bamboozle, flimflam, hornswoggle, trick, impose upon, practice upon, play upon, put upon, palm off on, palm upon, foist upon, snatch a verdict, bluff off, bluff, bunko, four flush*, gum*, spoof*, stuff (a ballot box), circumvent, overreach, outreach, out wit, out maneuver, steal a march upon, give the go-by, to leave in the lurch decoy, waylay, lure, beguile, delude, inveigle, entrap, intrap, ensnare, nick, springe, set a trap, lay a trap, lay a snare for, bait the hook, forelay, spread the toils, lime, trapan, trepan, kidnap, let in, hook in, nousle, nousel, blind a trail, enmesh, immesh, shanghai, catch, catch in a trap, sniggle, entangle, illaqueate, hocus, escamoter, practice on one's credulity, hum, humbug, gammon, stuff up*, sell, play a trick upon one, play a practical joke upon one, put something over on one, put one over on, balk, trip up, throw a tub to a whale, fool to the top of one's bent, send on a fool's errand, make game, make a fool of, make an april fool of, make an ass of, trifle with, cajole, flatter, come over, gild the pill, make things pleasant, divert, put a good face upon, dissemble, cog, cog the dice, load the dice, stack the deck, live by one's wits, play at hide and seek, obtain money under false pretenses, conjure, juggle, practice chicanery, deacon, play off, palm off, foist off, fob- off, lie, misinform, mislead, betray, be deceived

Adj. deceived, deceiving &c, cunning, prestigious|, prestigiatory|, deceptive, deceptious, deceitful, covinous, delusive, delusory, illusive, illusory, elusive, insidious, ad captandum vulgus, untrue, mock, sham, make-believe, counterfeit, snide*, pseudo, spurious, supposititious, so-called, pretended, feigned, trumped up, bogus, scamped, fraudulent, tricky, factitious, bastard, surreptitious, illegitimate, contraband, adulterated, sophisticated, unsound, rotten at the core, colorable, disguised, meretricious, tinsel, pinchbeck, plated, catchpenny, brummagem, artificial, synthetic, ersatz, simulated

Adv. under false colors, under the garb of, under cover of, over the left

Phr. "keep the word of promise to the ear and break it to the hope", fronti nulla fides, "ah that deceit should steal such gentle shapes", "a quicksand of deceit", decipimur specie recti, falsi crimen, fraus est celare fraudem, lupus in fabula, "so smooth, he daubed his vice with show of virtue"

N. cunning, craft, cunningness, craftiness, subtlety, artificiality, maneuvering, temporization, circumvention, chicane, chicanery, sharp practice, knavery, jugglery, concealment, guile, doubling, duplicity, foul play, diplomacy, politics, machiavelism, jobbery, backstairs influence, art, artifice, device, machination, plot, maneuver, stratagem, dodge, sidestep, artful dodge, wile, trick, trickery, ruse, ruse de guerre, finesse, side blow, thin end of the wedge, shift, go by, subterfuge, evasion, white lie, juggle, tour de force, tricks of the trade, tricks upon travelers, espieglerie, net, trap, ulysses, machiavel, sly boots, fox, reynard, scotchman, jew, yankee, intriguer, intrigant, floater, indian giver, keener, repeater

V. be cunning, have cut one's eyeteeth, contrive, live by one's wits, maneuver, intrigue, gerrymander, finesse, double, temporize, stoop to conquer, reculer pour mieux sauter, circumvent, steal a march upon, overreach, throw off one's guard, surprise, snatch a verdict, waylay, undermine, introduce the thin end of the wedge, play a deep game, play tricks with, ambiguas in vulgum spargere voces, flatter, make things pleasant, have an ax to grind, dodge, sidestep, bob and weave

Adj. cunning, crafty, artful, skillful, subtle, feline, vulpine, cunning as a fox, cunning as a serpent, deep, deep laid, profound, designing, contriving, intriguing, strategic, diplomatic, politic, machiavelian, timeserving, artificial, tricky, tricksy, wily, sly, slim, insidious, stealthy, underhand, subdolous, deceitful, slippery as an eel, evasive, crooked, arch, pawky, shrewd, acute, sharp, sharp as a tack, sharp as a needle|, canny, astute, leery, knowing, up to snuff, too clever by half, not to be caught with chaff, tactful, diplomatic, politic, polite

Adv. cunningly, slyly, slily, on the sly, by a side wind

Phr. diamond cut diamond, a' bis ou a blanc, fin contre fin, "something is rotten in the state of denmark"