Ways to say it
| Japanese | Romanization (Wiktionary) | IPA |
|---|---|---|
| 騙す | damasu | [da̠ma̠sɨ] (narrow) |
| まやかす | mayakasu | [ma̠ja̠ka̠sɨ] (narrow) |
| 偽る | itsuwaru | [it͡sɨβ̞a̠ɾɯ̟] (narrow) |
Japanese uses different words for cheating depending on whether you are talking about general trickery, falsifying information or using digital codes in a video game. While 騙す is a way to express the act of cheating or deceiving, the noun チート is used specifically to describe an unfair advantage or a cheat code in computer games.
Which one should you use?
The choice of word depends on the method of deception: 偽る is used specifically when someone is falsifying facts, such as their age, identity or feelings. まやかす implies bamboozling or hoodwinking someone through trickery or "smoke and mirrors" to hide the truth. For digital gaming, the loanword チート is used, which can be turned into the verb チートする to mean cheating in a game.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
In gaming contexts, the noun チート becomes a verb by adding the auxiliary verb する, resulting in チートする.
How do you pronounce it?
damasu
Did you know?
- In Japanese gaming culture, the word チート is often used as an adjective to describe something incredibly powerful, even if it is not actually a cheat code.
- While 騙す means to deceive, it is also the root of the word 騙し絵, which refers to optical illusions or 'trick pictures' like the famous ones by M.C. Escher.
- The historical root of 偽る is potentially linked to the word for 'hollow' or 'empty', suggesting that to lie is to inhabit a void.
Examples in context
- 彼は株取引で詐欺を働いた。He cheated in stock trading.
- その店は顧客をだまして不正な商品を売りました。That shop cheated customers by selling fraudulent products.
- テストでカンニングするのはよくないよ。Cheating on a test is not good.
- 彼は試合でインチキをしたと疑われている。He is suspected of cheating in the game.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cheat” translations and entries 騙す, まやかす, 偽る, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 偽る, CC BY-SA 4.0.
