Deceptive Language

noun nonsense or foolish talk or ideas; a senseless jumble of words or sounds

• The scientist dismissed the claims as balderdash, citing lack of evidence.
• I can't believe you fell for that balderdash!
• That's just a bunch of balderdash, don't listen to it.
• Her excuses were nothing but balderdash, trying to cover up the truth.

adjective An adjective is a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun. In this case, 'barefaced' describes someone or something that is shamelessly bold or undisguised.

• The defendant's barefaced lie was easily exposed by the evidence presented in court.
• I can't believe she had the barefaced audacity to ask for a raise after all the mistakes she made.
• He pulled a barefaced move by cutting in line at the grocery store.
• Her barefaced attempt to manipulate the situation was transparent to everyone involved.

adjective a word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun

adverb a word that modifies or describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb, often answering the questions how, when, or where

• The company blatantly ignored the safety regulations, putting their employees at risk.
• She blatantly copied my homework and thought I wouldn't notice.
• He blatantly dissed his ex-girlfriend on social media.
• The artist's use of color was so blatantly bold, it drew everyone's attention.

noun a county in North Carolina, United States

• The politician's speech was full of buncombe and lacked any substantial policy proposals.
• Don't listen to him, he's just talking buncombe.
• I can't believe people actually fall for that buncombe.
• Her excuses were nothing but buncombe to avoid taking responsibility.

noun absurd or nonsensical talk or ideas

• The speaker dismissed the opponent's argument as mere claptrap.
• I can't believe people actually fall for that political claptrap.
• Don't listen to him, he's just spouting claptrap.
• Her excuses were nothing but claptrap to cover up her mistake.

verb to use ambiguous or unclear language in order to deceive or avoid committing to a position

• The witness tried to equivocate when asked about his whereabouts on the night of the crime.
• Don't equivocate, just tell me the truth.
• Stop equivocating and give me a straight answer.
• Her smile seemed to equivocate her true feelings about the situation.

noun the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or to avoid committing oneself; prevarication

• The politician's equivocation on the issue only served to confuse the public further.
• Stop with the equivocation and just give a straight answer!
• Quit with the equivocation, just tell it like it is.
• Her equivocation was like trying to walk a tightrope without falling.

adjective characterized by evasion or avoidance; deliberately vague or ambiguous

• The witness was being evasive during cross-examination.
• Stop being so evasive and just tell me the truth!
• She's always so evasive, it's annoying.
• His evasive maneuvers helped him avoid the oncoming traffic.

verb to obtain or achieve something by devious or dishonest means

• The lawyer tried to finagle a better deal for his client.
• I'm going to try to finagle some extra time off work.
• She managed to finagle her way into the VIP section of the concert.
• He always knows how to finagle his way out of trouble.

noun a term used to describe magic or trickery, often associated with sleight of hand or illusion

adjective used to describe something as deceptive or illusory

• The magician performed a series of intricate hocus-pocus tricks that left the audience in awe.
• I don't believe in all that hocus-pocus magic stuff.
• Stop trying to pull that hocus-pocus on me, I know what you're up to.
• The politician's promises turned out to be nothing but hocus-pocus to win votes.

adjective not expressing genuine feelings; pretending to be sincere

• His insincere apology did not convince anyone of his remorse.
• I can tell she's being insincere with her compliments.
• Don't trust him, he's always so insincere.
• The politician's insincere promises left the voters feeling betrayed.

noun a physical tossing or jerking of the body

• The defendant's jactitation of false claims only served to further damage their credibility in court.
• Stop with the jactitation already, no one believes your exaggerated stories.
• Her jactitation about her new job was so over the top, it was hard to take her seriously.
• The politician's jactitation of his accomplishments was like a desperate attempt to gain approval from the public.

noun a person who is not straightforward or sincere; someone who is evasive or devious

adjective not straightforward or sincere; evasive or devious

• The politician was criticized for being mealymouth in his responses to the press.
• Don't be so mealymouth about your opinion, just say what you really think.
• Stop being so mealymouth and speak up for yourself.
• Her mealymouth attitude towards the issue only served to confuse everyone.

adjective apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity

• The meretricious nature of the advertisement was evident in its exaggerated claims.
• She was tired of his meretricious compliments that never seemed genuine.
• I can't stand people who act all meretricious just to impress others.
• The painting's meretricious beauty failed to capture the true essence of the artist's emotions.

verb to give someone false or misleading information or guidance

• The teacher warned the students not to let misinformation misguide them in their research.
• Don't let anyone misguide you into making a hasty decision.
• I can't believe he tried to misguide us with that fake news.
• Her emotions misguide her actions, leading to poor choices.

adjective misguided - having or showing faulty judgment or reasoning

• The decision to invest in that company was misguided and led to financial losses.
• She followed some misguided advice and ended up in trouble.
• Don't listen to him, he's just a misguided fool.
• His misguided attempt to win her over only pushed her further away.

verb to cause someone to believe something that is not true; to deceive or trick

• The company was fined for using deceptive advertising to mislead consumers.
• Don't let him mislead you with his smooth talk.
• She tried to mislead me, but I saw right through her lies.
• His actions were meant to mislead, but in the end, the truth prevailed.

adjective giving the wrong idea or impression

• The advertisement was found to be misleading as it exaggerated the product's benefits.
• Don't trust everything you see online, some of it can be pretty misleading.
• That article was totally clickbait, so misleading!
• Her smile was misleading, hiding the pain she was feeling inside.

verb to give a false or misleading account of something

• It is unethical for a lawyer to misrepresent facts in court.
• Don't misrepresent what actually happened at the party.
• I can't believe he tried to misrepresent the situation like that.
• Her artwork may misrepresent reality, but it captures the essence of emotion.

noun spoken or written words that have no meaning or make no sense; foolish or absurd behavior

• The scientist dismissed the claim as pure nonsense, lacking any empirical evidence.
• Don't listen to him, he's just talking nonsense.
• Stop spouting nonsense, you're not making any sense.
• Her excuses were just a smokescreen of nonsense to cover up the truth.

adjective describing something that is unbelievable or difficult to accept

preposition connecting the words 'not' and 'to be believed', indicating the relationship between them

• The information provided in the report is not to be believed until further verification is conducted.
• Don't trust everything you hear about that gossip, it's not to be believed.
• That story is so wild, it's not to be believed!
• His excuses for being late were so ridiculous, they were not to be believed.

adverb ostensibly is an adverb that is used to describe something that appears to be true or real, but may not actually be so

• The company's decision to cut costs was ostensibly to improve efficiency.
• She ostensibly went to the store to buy groceries, but ended up buying clothes instead.
• He ostensibly said he was sick to skip school and go to the beach.
• Her smile was ostensibly bright, but her eyes revealed her true sadness.

noun a person who speaks or acts in an evasive way; someone who avoids telling the truth

• The witness was accused of being a prevaricator during the trial.
• Don't believe a word that prevaricator says.
• That guy is such a prevaricator, you can never trust him.
• His constant prevarication is like a tangled web of lies.

adjective having a false earnestness or ingratiating manner

• The politician's smarmy demeanor did not sit well with the voters.
• I can't stand that smarmy guy who always tries to act so charming.
• That smarmy dude thinks he's so slick, but he's really just a phony.
• Her words were coated in a smarmy layer of insincerity.

noun the quality or state of being specious; superficially plausible, but actually wrong or misleading

adjective specious

• The speciousness of the argument was quickly exposed during the debate.
• His speciousness was so obvious that no one believed him.
• Her speciousness was off the charts - she couldn't fool anyone with that excuse.
• The speciousness of his promises left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.

noun A word that represents a person, place, thing, or idea.

verb A word that expresses an action, occurrence, or state of being.

article A word that specifies a noun as definite or indefinite (e.g. the, a, an).

• It is unethical to stretch the truth in a court of law.
• I know you like to stretch the truth, but try to be honest this time.
• Stop stretching the truth, just tell it like it is.
• Sometimes in storytelling, it's okay to stretch the truth to make the story more interesting.

noun a person who is not aware of or expecting something

adjective describing someone who is not aware of or expecting something

• The thief targeted unsuspecting tourists in the crowded market.
• I can't believe she pulled that prank on the unsuspecting new guy.
• The scammer took advantage of the unsuspecting old lady.
• The virus silently spread among the unsuspecting population.

noun a word or phrase that is intentionally ambiguous or misleading

• The use of weasel words in scientific literature can undermine the credibility of the research findings.
• I don't trust politicians who constantly use weasel words to avoid giving straight answers.
• Stop using weasel words and just be honest with me!
• Her promises were full of weasel words, leaving me unsure of her true intentions.

noun A word used to identify a person, place, thing, or idea.

verb A word used to describe an action, state, or occurrence.

adjective A word used to describe or modify a noun.

adverb A word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc.

pronoun A word that can function by itself as a noun phrase and that refers either to the participants in the discourse or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse.

preposition A word used to show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence.

conjunction A word used to connect clauses or sentences or to coordinate words in the same clause.

• It is absurd to swear that black is white, as they are clearly distinct colors.
• I can't believe some people actually say that black is white, it's ridiculous.
• I heard someone think that black is white, can you believe that?
• Sometimes in arguments, people swear that black is white just to prove their point.

adjective having the characteristics or qualities of a snake; sneaky or deceitful

• The winding path through the forest was snakey, with twists and turns at every corner.
• I don't trust that guy, he gives off a snakey vibe.
• She's so snakey, always talking behind people's backs.
• The politician's snakey behavior was finally exposed by the media.