| Main Entry: | whitewash |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | cover up the truth |
Synonyms: |
blanch, camouflage, conceal, exonerate, extenuate, gloss over, launder, liberate, make light of, paint, palliate, sugarcoat, suppress, varnish, veneer, vindicate, white, whiten |
Antonyms: |
expose, reveal, tell truth |
| Main Entry: | absolve |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | free from responsibility, duty |
Synonyms: |
acquit, bleach, blink at, clear, discharge, exculpate, excuse, exempt, exonerate, forgive, free, go easy on, launder, let off easy, let off the hook, let off, let up on, liberate, lifeboat, loose, pardon, release, relieve, sanitize, set free, spare, spring*, vindicate, whitewash, wink at, wipe it off, wipe the slate clean, write off |
| Notes: | one is absolved of blame or responsibility but is acquitted of a charge, usually a crime |
Antonyms: |
bind, blame, charge, condemn, convict, hold, impeach, incriminate, obligate, punish, sentence |
| Main Entry: | acquit |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | announce removal of blame |
Synonyms: |
absolve, blink at, clear, deliver, discharge, disculpate, exculpate, excuse, exonerate, free, let go, let off, let off the hook, liberate, release, relieve, vindicate, whitewash, wink at, wipe off |
Antonyms: |
blame, censure, condemn, convict, damn, denounce, doom, sentence |
| Main Entry: | cheat |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | trick |
Synonyms: |
artifice, baloney, bamboozlement, bill of goods, bunco, chicanery, con, con game, cover up, cozening, deceit, deception, dirty pool, dirty trick, dodge, double-dealing, fake, fast one, fast shuffle, fix, flimflam, frame, fraud, gyp, hanky-panky, hoax, hoaxing, humbug, hustle, imposture, jazz, jive, plant, put-on, racket, rip-off, run around, scam, sell, shady deal, sham, shell game, snow job, spoof, sting, stunt, swindle, trickery, whitewash, wrong |
| Main Entry: | collusion |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | secret understanding, often with intent to defraud |
Synonyms: |
bait and switch, bill of goods, bunco, cahoots, complicity, con game, connivance, conspiracy, craft, deceit, diddling, dodge, double-cross, fast shuffle, flam, flimflam, fradulent artifice, graft, guilt, guiltiness, gyp, intrigue, plot, racket, scam, scheme, shell game, skunk, sting*, trick, whitewash |
| Main Entry: | cover-up |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | attempt to conceal embarrassing or scandalous information |
Synonyms: |
burial, camouflage, closeting, complicity, concealment, conspiracy, disguising, dissimulation, evasion, front, hush-up, masking, placing under wraps, pretense, seal of secrecy, smoke-screen, veil of secrecy, whitewash |
| Main Entry: | deceit |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | particular type of trick, misleading |
Synonyms: |
artifice, blind, cheat, chicanery, crocodile tears, deception, dirty trick, dirty work, duplicity, fake, feint, flimflam, fraud, fraudulence, hoax, humbug, imposture, misrepresentation, pretense, ruse, sell, sellout, sham, shift, smoke and mirrors, snow job, soft soap, spoof, stratagem, subterfuge, sweet talk, swindle, trick, whitewash, wile |
| Main Entry: | deception |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | trick |
Synonyms: |
artifice, bilk, bluff, catch, cheat, chicane, con, con game, confidence game, cover-up, crock, decoy, device, dodge, fallacy, fast one, fast shuffle, feint, fib, fraud, gimmick, hoax, hogwash, hustle, illusion, imposture, jive, lie, malarkey, mare's-nest, pretext, ride*, ruse, scam, sham, shift, shuck, snare, snow job, stall, sting, story, stratagem, subterfuge, swindle, trap, trick, whitewash, wile, wrinkle |
| Main Entry: | defense |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | explanation, justification |
Synonyms: |
answer, apologetics, apologia, apologizing, apology, argument, cleanup, copout, exculpation, excuse, excusing, exoneration, explaining, extenuation, fish story, jive, off-time, plea, rationalization, rejoinder, reply, response, retort, return, song and dance, story, vindication, whitewash |
Antonyms: |
betrayal, capitulation, yielding |
| Main Entry: | disguise |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | mask; misrepresent |
Synonyms: |
affect, age, alter, antique, assume, beard, belie, camouflage, change, cloak, color, conceal, counterfeit, cover, cover up, deceive, dissemble, dissimulate, doctor up, dress up, fake, falsify, feign, front, fudge, garble, gloss over, hide, make like, make up, masquerade, muffle, obfuscate, obscure, pretend, put on a false front, put on a front, put on an act, put up a front, redo, screen, secrete, sham, shroud, simulate, touch up, varnish, veil, wear cheaters, whitewash |
Antonyms: |
expose, open, represent, reveal, uncover, unmask |