Seeing so many words that meant the same thing (i.e. deception), I wondered what that might imply about society and humans. Just as we have many ways to describe the different levels of love, hatred, sadness, etc., we (apparently) need words to describe the different levels of deceit, because deception (unfortunately) is perhaps as integral a part of human nature as the other primal emotions and behaviors that define us. Now I need to figure out the subtleties among the different ways to lie and cheat. I'm having trouble telling some apart.
(Note: the definitions were obtained from dictionary.com)
Equivocate
- To use expressions of double meaning in order to mislead.
- To use ambiguous or unclear expressions, usually to avoid commitment or in order to mislead; prevaricate or hedge: When asked directly for his position on disarmament, the candidate only equivocated.
Specious
- Deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious.
- Apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments.
Prevaricate
- To like or deviate from the truth
- To speak falsely or misleadingly, deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie.
Dissemble
- To present a false appearance, to disguise one’s real intentions or character
- To give a false or misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or nature of: to dissemble one’s incompetence in business
- To put on the appearance of; feign.
Dissimulate
- to disguise or conceal under a false appearance; dissemble: to dissimulate one's true feelings about a rival.
- to conceal one's true motives, thoughts, etc., by some pretense; speak or act hypocritically.
Spurious
- Not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit, phony.
Meretricious
- Alluring by a show of flashy or vulgar attractions.
- Based on pretense, deception, or insincerity
- Pertaining to or characteristic of a prostitute
Sophism
- A specious argument for displaying ingenuity in reasoning or deceiving someone.
- Any false argument; fallacy.
Sophistry
- A subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning
Subterfuge
- an artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.
Quibble
- an instance of the use of ambiguous, prevaricating, or irrelevant language or arguments to evade a point at issue.
- To equivocate
- To evade the truth or importance of an issue by raising trivial distinctions and objections.
Chicanery
- Trickery or deception by quibbling or sophistry: He resorted to the worst flattery and chicanery to win the job.
- a quibble or subterfuge used to trick, deceive, or evade.
Guile
- Insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty or artful deception; duplicity.
- Treacherous cunning; skillful deceit.
