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noun

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mischief - Behavior that causes minor damage or annoyance, especially by children or animals.

Their son had a sparkle of mischief in his eyes when he ran to hide behind the curtains.

noun

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decoy - An object made to resemble something else, to lure someone into a trap.

The spies set up a decoy vehicle, that looked the same as their own car, to mislead their pursuers.

noun

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shenanigans - Secret or dishonest activity or maneuvering

Because of Wall Street's shenanigans, the American economy collapsed in 2008.

verb

See noun

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bluff - Try to deceive someone as to one's abilities or intentions

Tim had a bad poker hand but decided to bluff and bet all of his chips at once.

noun

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guise - A deceptive appearance that is intended to deceive

Using the guise of helping older women, the thief was initially friendly and then robbed them.

verb

See noun

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dupe - Deceive; trick

Edwin knew his agent wanted to dupe him by having him sign a bad contract.

noun

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cover-up - The act of concealing the truth or facts, especially by a person in authority.

The media discovered a major cover-up involving illegal funds.

noun

See verb

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scheme - A large-scale systematic plan or arrangement for attaining some particular object or putting a particular idea into effect, often through deceptive means

It's better to be honest and work hard, and not spend too much time devising or falling for schemes that are tempting shortcuts to making money.

noun

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sham - A thing that is not what it is purported to be

To the naked eye, a counterfeit handbag looks like the real thing, instead of a poorly made sham that it really is.

noun

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hype - Extravagant or intensive publicity or promotion, that often turns out to be false

Todd spread the hype that his party was going to be the event of the year, but only a few people showed up.

noun

See verb

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fib - A lie, typically an unimportant one

Jon told a little fib to his teacher about why he couldn't finish his homework and hoped she would believe him.

adjective

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bogus - Not real or genuine - fake or false (used in a disapproving manner when deception has been attempted)

Mr. and Mrs. Smith had suspected all along that the letter offering Oklahoma land for $100 an acre had been totally bogus.