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noun

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villain - A person who is considered wicked, cruel, or criminal; someone blamed for causing a particular problem or harm.

Robin Hood was considered a villain to the people who had money, but he was a hero to the poor.

adjective

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contrived - Artificial and difficult to believe.

Fred was still considered a prime suspect, because his story about what he did the night of the crime sounded contrived to the detective who interviewed him.

noun

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charlatan - A person who falsely pretends to know or be something in order to deceive people

The man selling snake oil claimed it would cure all diseases, but Harvey knew the man was just a charlatan.

noun

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deception - The act of hiding the truth, especially to get an advantage

One of the most dangerous deceptions on the web is where adults chat and pretend to be friends with boys and girls.

adjective

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fictitious - Imaginary, not real, made up and not true.

All the main characters in Charles Dicken's A Tale of Two Cities are fictitious, but the book gives you a good idea of what really happened.

verb

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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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rogue - Behaving in a way that causes damage.

Martha's friends tried to warn her that under Charlie's charming exterior was a rogue that would eventually hurt her.

noun

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machinations - Crafty schemes or plots, especially intended to achieve something deceitful or underhanded; secret or complicated plans, often with a negative or manipulative goal.

The villain's machinations were finally exposed, revealing his plan to transfer other people's money into his own account.

noun

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hoax - A humorous or malicious deception

Despite evidence that says otherwise, some people still believe the moon landing was a hoax.

noun

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façade - A deceptive outward appearance.

Bill realized too late that behind the salesman's facade of integrity was a crook that wanted to steal his money.

verb

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delude - To mislead someone into believing something that is not true

The cult's leader deluded his followers into believing he knew the path to Heaven, but it was really the path to Hell.

noun

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ruse - A ploy or stratagem used to manipulate a situation in one's favor, often by hiding one's true intentions or motives.

His apparent offer to help was just a ruse to get access to her personal information.