Noun

(fallacies)

Deceptive or false appearance; deceitfulness; that which misleads the eye or the mind; deception.

(logic) An argument, or apparent argument, which professes to be decisive of the matter at issue, while in reality it is not. A specious argument.

Noun

(en noun)

An act or practice intended to deceive; a trick

The whole conversation was merely a deceit .

An act of deceiving someone

* {{quote-book, year=1998, author=Mike Dixon-Kennedy, title=Encyclopedia of Greco-Roman Mythology, page=125, pageurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=2U7okUE3PIcC&pg=PA125

, passage=Upon his return he killed Eriphyle for her vanity and deceit of him and his father. }}

(uncountable) The state of being deceitful or deceptive

* {{quote-book, year=1611, title=King James Bible, chapter=Psalms 10:7

, passage=His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.}}

(legal) The tort or fraudulent representation of a material fact made with knowledge of its falsity, or recklessly, or without reasonable grounds for believing its truth and with intent to induce reliance on it; the plaintiff justifiably relies on the deception, to his injury.