1
as in ruse
a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end
asking me to take her shopping turned out to be a ploy to get me to the surprise party
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2
as in spree
a time or instance of carefree fun
wanted one grand ploy through Europe before settling down and raising a family
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ploy
Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway, a Democrat, believes the financial incentives are a federal ploy to pull local officers away from their everyday duties and direct them to immigration enforcement.
—
Rafael Carranza, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2025
Ripping from the headlines is a money-making ploy as old as Hollywood itself.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 13 Oct. 2025
Scammers are improving their ploys to be even more convincing.
—Summer Stephan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2025
For critics, however, the games were the latest ploy to undermine the moral values of America’s youths.
—Time, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ploy
Rafael Carranza, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2025
Ripping from the headlines is a money-making ploy as old as Hollywood itself.
—Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 13 Oct. 2025
Scammers are improving their ploys to be even more convincing.
—Summer Stephan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Oct. 2025
For critics, however, the games were the latest ploy to undermine the moral values of America’s youths.
—Time, 8 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for ploy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ploy
Noun
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Odysseus, the Ithacan warrior who is as celebrated for craftiness as Achilles is for brute strength, devises a clever ruse in which the Greeks place a giant wooden horse outside Troy’s walls and pretend to sail away.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
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This basement ruse allows the law to be ignored as well as the special zoning requirements for homeless shelters and transitional housing.—
Lou Murray,
Boston Herald,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Gille, the suspect charged with one count of terrorism and 11 counts of assualt with intent to murder connected to a stabbing spree at a Walmart near Traverse City on July 26, is now being treated at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline.—
Natalie Davies,
Freep.com,
30 Oct. 2025
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So, who was Aileen Wuornos, and what happened to her after her killing spree?—
Caroline Blair,
PEOPLE,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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In the below example, against Real Oviedo’s zonal scheme protecting the six-yard box, three players run away from goal and one to the near-post to attack Marcus Rashford’s outswinger, resulting in Araujo scoring.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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All of that has left the Heat seeking answers in the immediate aftermath of Rozier’s Thursday arrest stemming from his alleged involvement in a sports betting scheme.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The oldest trick in the book … foiled by those pesky Bravo cameras.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
5 Nov. 2025
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The next evolution of creative culture isn’t faster turnaround or cooler AI tricks.—
Rochelle Ratkaj,
Rolling Stone,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Ploy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ploy. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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