Planos (πλάνος) means a deceiver, impostor, or misleading person. As an adjective it means "deceitful" or "leading astray." As a substantive noun it refers to a specific person who deceives others. It belongs to the same word family as planao (G4105, to deceive) and plane (G4106, deception). The term describes someone who intentionally or characteristically leads others away from the truth.
In Matthew 27:63, the chief priests and Pharisees call Jesus a planos — "that deceiver" — when petitioning Pilate to secure the tomb. This is deeply ironic: they label the Truth Himself (John 14:6) as a deceiver. In 2 Corinthians 6:8, Paul describes the paradox of apostolic ministry — treated "as deceivers, and yet true." In 2 John 7, John warns that many deceivers have gone out into the world who deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh — and identifies such a person as "the deceiver and the antichrist." The word thus becomes a key marker in identifying false teachers: those who deny the incarnation and lead believers away from orthodox faith are planoi. The NT consistently warns that the greatest spiritual danger is not persecution but deception from within.