---
title: deceitful — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «deceitful» in the school dictionary: A deceitful person often lies or tricks people to make them believe things that are not true. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# deceitful

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** deceitful person, people, things, deceitful fox, It, homework · **What happens:** lie, trick, make, believe, not be, mean · **To what, where:** people, things, deceitful action, someone, friend, homework · **Speech:** someone speaks here

<!-- .vabout -->
«deceitful» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 7 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [deceitful in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/deceitful.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A deceitful person often lies or tricks people to make them believe things that are not true.

<!-- fold The tree, 17 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:m1:1
# text = A deceitful person often lies or tricks people to make them believe things that are not true.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	often	often	ADV	RB	_	5	advmod	_	_
5	lies	lie	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
6	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	7	cc	_	_
7	tricks	trick	VERB	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
8	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	obj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	make	make	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
11	them	they	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Number=Plur|Person=3|PronType=Prs	10	obj	_	_
12	believe	believe	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	xcomp	_	_
13	things	thing	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obj	_	_
14	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	17	nsubj	_	_
15	are	be	AUX	VBP	Mood=Ind|Number=Plur|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	17	cop	_	_
16	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	17	advmod	_	_
17	true	true	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	13	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **lie** | present | a deceitful person |  |  |  |  | often *property* | vn assuming\_position-50 «NP V»: agent=Agent |
| 2 | **trick** | present | a deceitful person *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **make** | to-infinitive | a deceitful person *not said here* | people |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 4 | **believe** | infinitive | people *not said here* | things |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer thing=Stimulus |
| 5 | **not** **is** | present | things |  |  |  |  | true *property* | tree rules |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A deceitful action or word is meant to trick someone.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:m2:1
# text = A deceitful action or word is meant to trick someone.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	action	action	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj:pass	_	_
4	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	5	cc	_	_
5	word	word	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	conj	_	_
6	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux:pass	_	_
7	meant	mean	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
8	to	to	PART	TO	_	9	mark	_	_
9	trick	trick	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	7	xcomp	_	_
10	someone	someone	PRON	NN	Number=Sing|PronType=Ind	9	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **mean** | present · passive |  | a deceitful action or word |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **trick** *not said to happen* | to-infinitive |  | someone |  |  |  |  | vn trick-59.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent someone=Patient |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The deceitful fox pretended to be the hen's friend.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:x1:1
# text = The deceitful fox pretended to be the hen's friend.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	3	amod	_	_
3	fox	fox	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	nsubj	_	_
4	pretended	pretend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
6	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	10	cop	_	_
7	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	8	det	_	_
8	hen	hen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	's	's	PART	POS	_	8	case	_	_
10	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **pretend** | past | the deceitful fox |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **is a** | to-infinitive | the deceitful fox *not said here* | the hen's friend |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
It was deceitful to copy his homework and say it was yours.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:x2:1
# text = It was deceitful to copy his homework and say it was yours.
1	It	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	cop	_	_
3	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	_
4	to	to	PART	TO	_	5	mark	_	_
5	copy	copy	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	3	xcomp	_	_
6	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	7	nmod:poss	_	_
7	homework	homework	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	obj	_	_
8	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	9	cc	_	_
9	say	say	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	5	conj	_	_
10	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	12	nsubj	_	_
11	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	12	cop	_	_
12	yours	your	PRON	PRP	Person=2|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	9	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
13	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | It |  |  |  |  | deceitful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **copy** | to-infinitive |  | his homework |  |  |  |  | vn scribble-25.2 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent homework=Theme |
| 3 | **say** *speech: assert* | infinitive |  |  |  |  |  |  | vn say-37.7-1-1 «NP V that S»: agent=Agent |
| 4 | **is a** | past | homework | yours |  |  |  |  | tree rules |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The scam email was deceitful: it pretended to come from a bank.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:x3:1
# text = The scam email was deceitful: it pretended to come from a bank.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
2	scam	scam	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	compound	_	_
3	email	email	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	5	nsubj	_	_
4	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	cop	_	_
5	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	:	:	PUNCT	:	_	8	punct	_	_
7	it	it	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	8	nsubj	_	_
8	pretended	pretend	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	5	conj	_	_
9	to	to	PART	TO	_	10	mark	_	_
10	come	come	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	8	xcomp	_	_
11	from	from	ADP	IN	_	13	case	_	_
12	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	13	det	_	_
13	bank	bank	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	10	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
14	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	5	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | past | the scam email |  |  |  |  | deceitful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **pretend** | past | email |  |  |  |  |  | tree rules |
| 3 | **come** | to-infinitive | email *not said here* |  |  | a bank |  |  | vn escape-51.1-1 «NP V PP.initial\_location»: agent=Theme from bank=Initial\_Location |

## Example 4 {#x4}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
She was hurt by her friend's deceitful words.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:x4:1
# text = She was hurt by her friend's deceitful words.
1	She	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Nom|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	3	nsubj	_	_
2	was	be	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	3	aux:pass	_	_
3	hurt	hurt	VERB	VBN	Tense=Past|VerbForm=Part|Voice=Pass	0	root	_	_
4	by	by	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
5	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
6	friend	friend	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	9	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	's	's	PART	POS	_	6	case	_	_
8	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	words	word	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hurt** | past · passive | her friend's deceitful words | She |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-2 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer subject=Patient |
| 2 | **word** |  | her friend |  |  |  |  |  | nom word «communication transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 5 {#x5}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The villain hid his deceitful plan behind a smile.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:x5:1
# text = The villain hid his deceitful plan behind a smile.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	villain	villain	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	hid	hide	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	his	his	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Masc|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	6	nmod:poss	_	_
5	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	plan	plan	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	_
7	behind	behind	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	smile	smile	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
10	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **hide** | past | the villain | villain's deceitful plan |  | a smile |  |  | vn concealment-16-1 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent plan=Patient behind smile=Location |
| 2 | **plan** |  | villain |  |  |  |  |  | nom plan «cognition transitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 6 {#x6}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Being deceitful can break people's trust.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:x6:1
# text = Being deceitful can break people's trust.
1	Being	be	AUX	VBG	Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Part	2	cop	_	_
2	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	advcl	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	break	break	VERB	VB	Mood=Imp|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
5	people	people	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	7	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	trust	trust	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
8	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is** | gerund |  |  |  |  |  | deceitful *property* | tree rules |
| 2 | **break** | can |  | people's trust |  |  |  |  | vn hurt-40.8.3-1-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer trust=Patient |
| 3 | **trust** |  | people |  |  |  |  |  | nom trust «possession intransitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 7 {#x7}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The queen, who did not imagine that any person could be so deceitful, bade her stepmother welcome, and kept her beside her.

<!-- fold The tree, 22 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:deceitful:x7:1
# text = The queen, who did not imagine that any person could be so deceitful, bade her stepmother welcome, and kept her beside her.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	queen	queen	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	SpaceAfter=No
3	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	7	punct	_	_
4	who	who	PRON	WP	PronType=Rel	7	nsubj	_	_
5	did	do	AUX	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	7	aux	_	_
6	not	not	PART	RB	Polarity=Neg	7	advmod	_	_
7	imagine	imagine	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	2	parataxis	_	_
8	that	that	SCONJ	IN	_	14	mark	_	_
9	any	any	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	10	det	_	_
10	person	person	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	nsubj	_	_
11	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	14	aux	_	_
12	be	be	AUX	VB	VerbForm=Inf	14	cop	_	_
13	so	so	ADV	RB	_	14	advmod	_	_
14	deceitful	deceitful	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	ccomp	_	SpaceAfter=No
15	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	16	punct	_	_
16	bade	bade	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	14	conj	_	_
17	her	her	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	19	nmod:poss	_	_
18	stepmother	stepmother	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	19	compound	_	_
19	welcome	welcome	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	16	appos	_	SpaceAfter=No
20	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	22	punct	_	_
21	and	and	CCONJ	CC	_	22	cc	_	_
22	kept	keep	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=1|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	14	advcl	_	_
23	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obj	_	_
24	beside	beside	ADP	IN	_	25	case	_	_
25	her	she	PRON	PRP	Case=Acc|Gender=Fem|Number=Sing|Person=3|PronType=Prs	22	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
26	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	2	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **not** **imagine** | past · do-support | the queen |  |  |  |  |  | vn wish-62 «NP V for NP S\_INF»: agent=Pivot |
| 2 | **is** | could | any person |  |  |  |  | deceitful *property* | tree rules |
| 3 | **keep** | past | any person *not said here* | person |  |  |  | beside person | vn keep-15.2 «NP V NP PP.location»: agent=Agent she=Theme beside she=Location |
| 4 | **welcome** |  | person |  |  |  |  |  | nom welcome «state transitive»: poss=agent |

<!-- div src -->

**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

<!-- /div -->

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