Troubled entertainer Bill Cosby said he paid women after sex to keep the affairs from his wife, suggested he was skilled at understanding non-verbal cues for sexual consent and called one of his accusers a liar.

The New York Times reported the revelations after obtaining a copy of sworn evidence from a deposition Cosby gave a decade ago.

The comedian, now 78, was giving evidence under oath in a lawsuit by a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, who says he drugged and molested her.

According to excerpts from the deposition released a month ago, and first obtained by The Associated Press, Cosby admitted he procured Quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with.

The Times reports that Cosby told lawyers for Andrea Constand, who brought the suit, that he was a "pretty decent reader of people and their emotions in these romantic sexual things", according to the transcript.

He said he offered to pay for Ms Constand's education and paid another woman whom he had met in 1976. He also admitted he funnelled money to some of the women through his agent so his wife would not find out.

Cosby's publicist, David Brokaw, did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Although Ms Constand never sought any money from Cosby, the comedian said he thought his wife would have known he was helping her with furthering her education but said: "My wife would not know it was because Andrea and I had had sex."

Cosby has denied accusations made by dozens of women who claim he sexually assaulted them. He has never been charged with a crime.

At points during the deposition, Cosby also described his sexual encounters with the women in detail.

The deposition also paints Cosby as emotionally charming, but he also spoke about disregarding relationships to pursue other women.

He suggested he was skilled at understanding women and non-verbal cues signalling sexual consent.

Cosby, who has been married since 1964, said he sparked a relationship with Ms Constand in the early 2000s and invited her to his house and had conversations about her family and plans for future education.

The relationship between the two continued for several years until, Ms Constand says, Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his Pennsylvania home.

Cosby said during the deposition that Ms Constand was "a liar".

Although Cosby painted himself as sensitive to Ms Constand, he told her lawyer: "I think Andrea is a liar and I know she's a liar because I was there," when he was asked how he felt about Ms Constand crying during her deposition in the case.