stratagem

noun strat·a·gem \ ˈstra-tə-jəm , -ˌjem \

Updated on: 21 Apr 2018

Definition of stratagem

1 a : an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy

b : a cleverly contrived trick or scheme for gaining an end

2 : skill in ruses or trickery

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Examples of stratagem in a Sentence

tried various stratagems to get the cat into the carrier, but the feisty feline was wise to them all

Recent Examples of stratagem from the Web

The war, which dragged on longer than many viewers liked, turned on a surprising, satisfying plot twist that saw Rick's band go from seeming defeat to victory, even if the stratagem didn't stand up to close analysis.

— bill keveney, USA TODAY, "'The Walking Dead' recap: 'All-Out War' ends with Rick-Negan showdown," 15 Apr. 2018
As Jonathan Martin reported recently in The New York Times, Republicans are twisting the Democratic impeachment talk into a stratagem for raising money and mobilizing the base for the November races.

— elizabeth drew, The New Republic, "The End of Impeachment," 10 Apr. 2018
The zombie blood stratagem was not employed, keeping the series logical for at least another week.

— steve johnson, chicagotribune.com, "Future shock: Sunday's 'Walking Dead' finally hints at a bigger purpose," 19 Mar. 2018
Other drug companies are trying similar REMS stratagems.

— cynthia koons, Bloomberg.com, "The Loopholes Drug Companies Use to Keep Prices High," 20 Dec. 2017
As Mueller moves to interview West Wing aides in the coming days, advisers are lobbying for Trump to consider a range of stratagems to neutralize Mueller, from conciliation to a declaration of all-out war.

— jack moore, GQ, "It's Getting Much Harder for Donald Trump to Fire Robert Mueller," 2 Nov. 2017
This divide-and-conquer stratagem paid off handsomely this week when the Czechs and Slovaks broke ranks with a group of eastern European countries to back a tightening of cross-border labour rules inside the EU, a totemic issue for Mr Macron.

— The Economist, "CharlemagneThe new Czech leader is not leading an anti-Europe uprising," 26 Oct. 2017
And by Monday, after a year of legal stratagems on his part, both charges had been dropped.

— max londberg, kansascity, "'420 Jim' marijuana activist leaves Springfield, Missouri, in his 'CannaBus' | The Kansas City Star," 24 Oct. 2017
Cuba’s favourite economic stratagem—extracting subsidies from left-wing allies—has had its day.

— The Economist, "Clueless on Cuba’s economy," 30 Sep. 2017

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

Did You Know?

A "stratagem" is any clever scheme - sometimes one that's part of an overall "strategy" (i.e., a carefully worked out plan of action). Clearly, we no longer limit ourselves to the original military sense of "stratagem" as 15th-century users of the term did. The military meaning can be traced back to the word's Greek ancestor strategema, which is itself based on strategein, meaning "to act as a general." "Strategein" in turn comes from "strategos" ("general"), which comes from "stratos" ("army") and "agein" ("to lead"). "Strategos" is an ancestor of "strategy" as well.

Origin and Etymology of stratagem

Italian stratagemma, from Latin strategema, from Greek stratēgēma, from stratēgein to be a general, maneuver, from stratēgos general, from stratos camp, army (akin to Latin stratus, past participle, spread out) + agein to lead — more at stratum, agent

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

stratagem Synonyms

Synonyms

artifice, device, dodge, flimflam, gambit, gimmick, jig, knack, play, ploy, scheme, shenanigan, sleight, trick, wile;

Related Words

bluff, feint;

cheating, chicanery, cozenage, craft, cunning, deception, duplicity, fakery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery;

fraud, hoax, sham, swindle;

blind, front, smoke screen;

Phrases

sleight of hand;

Synonym Discussion of stratagem

trick, ruse, stratagem, maneuver, artifice, wile, feint mean an indirect means to gain an end. trick may imply deception, roguishness, illusion, and either an evil or harmless end.