dupery
Art of fooling
Dupery is the act or practice of deceiving someone, or an instance of such deception.
The word carries a slightly old-fashioned or literary quality: The scheme was an elaborate dupery designed to separate investors from their savings.
It suggests deliberate trickery rather than innocent misunderstanding.
Deliberate deception for effect
- shamFraudulent imitation
- impostureDeception through false identity
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
- disguiseIdentity-concealing alteration
pretense · illusion · charade · fraud · fakery · deceit · chicanery · guile
Deliberate act of deception
- ployCalculated deceptive tactic
- stratagemDeceptive plan for advantage
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
- machinationCrafty scheming, often hostile
contrivance · artifice · wile · maneuver · gimmick · scheme · tactic · device
Faker claiming false expertise
- mountebankTraveling seller of fake remedies
- grifterPetty fraud perpetrator
- con artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
- bamboozleDeceive through cunning
hoodwink · fleece · bilk · sucker · mark · gull · victim · pigeon
Deliberately untrue statement
- falsificationDeliberate alteration of truth
- untruthA false statement
- prevaricationMisleading speech avoiding directness
- mendacityDisposition to lie
canard · fib · yarn · whopper · tall tale · lie · disinformation · misinformation
hoax
Deliberate deception for effect
- shamFraudulent imitation
- impostureDeception through false identity
- masqueradeDeceptive act or costume party
disguise · pretense · illusion · charade · fraud · fakery · deceit · chicanery · guile · dissimulation
ruse
Deliberate act of deception
- ployCalculated deceptive tactic
- stratagemDeceptive plan for advantage
- subterfugeDeliberate deception to conceal
machination · contrivance · artifice · wile · maneuver · gimmick · scheme · tactic · device · trick
charlatan
Faker claiming false expertise
- mountebankTraveling seller of fake remedies
- grifterPetty fraud perpetrator
- con artistProfessional fraud perpetrator
bamboozle · hoodwink · fleece · bilk · sucker · mark · gull · victim · pigeon · patsy
fabrication
Deliberately untrue statement
- falsificationDeliberate alteration of truth
- untruthA false statement
- prevaricationMisleading speech avoiding directness
mendacity · canard · fib · yarn · whopper · tall tale · lie · disinformation · misinformation · distortion
duperyhonesty
Truthfulness, sincerity
truthfulness · candor · sincerity · frankness · forthrightness
- super duperEmphatically, enthusiastically great