outwit

verb out·wit \ ˌau̇t-ˈwit \

|Updated on: 22 Jun 2018

Examples: outwit in a Sentence

Definition of outwit

outwitted; outwitting

transitive verb

1 : to get the better of by superior cleverness : outsmart

2 archaic : to surpass in wisdom

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Examples of outwit in a Sentence

The fox managed to outwit the hunter by hiding in a tree.
They thought they had outwitted the new teacher.

Recent Examples of outwit from the Web

Mr Rajoy, a great survivor whose stolid appearance hides sharp political instincts, had been outwitted at last.

— The Economist, "Spain’s new prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, assembles a reassuring team," 7 June 2018
Pep Guardiola was left clueless as a Jurgen Klopp masterclass outwitted his managerial opponent, and all but guaranteed progression into the next round.

— SI.com, "Twitter Reacts to Man City's 'Nightmare' Capitulation in Unexpected UCL Thumping From Liverpool," 4 Apr. 2018
Other thieves have outwitted armed guards and alarm systems or cut through an airport fence or to seize their loot.

— sam dangremond, Town & Country, "The Biggest Jewelry Heists of All Time," 4 Oct. 2016
Weekend watchmen were outwitted by thieves who drilled through the walls or otherwise broke into the storerooms to extricate prized crates of garlic worth thousands of dollars.

— sean patrick cooper, The New Republic, "Is America Ready for the Next Superstorm?," 4 June 2018
Bosworth was to play Jack Thornton, the hero who outwits the sultan and wins the heart of the helpless heroine.

— Longreads, "When the Movies Went West," 15 May 2018
The bad news: If Trump falls for his own hype, he may be outwitted by a showman who can best him at this game.

— trudy rubin, Philly.com, "Hold the Trump Nobel! Korea talks will be a long haul | Trudy Rubin," 11 May 2018
SimSim would like to use the model to finance smartphone purchases, but the technology to lock the devices remotely is not yet robust enough to rebuff attempts to outwit it.

— The Economist, "Pocket bankingMobile financial services are cornering the market," 3 May 2018
Every night, once his wife went to bed, Carpenter drank coffee, chewed Nicorette, and schemed about ways to outwit the hackers.

— rachel aviv, The New Yorker, "The Digital Vigilantes Who Hack Back," 30 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'outwit.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.