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Definition of subterfuge
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subterfuge was our Word of the Day on 12/20/2011. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of subterfuge in a Sentence
And the same kind of subterfuge that causes employees to open a virus-laden attachment could also lead them to unknowingly install programs that ship all their data to unscrupulous competitors. —Paul Wallich, Scientific American, July 2000
Williams has worn a wedding ring for the past decade. Originally it was a fake diamond used as a subterfuge during her days as an activist in Central America … —Annie Leibovitz, Vogue, February 1998
The first pool appeared on the scene in 1791, organized to manipulate stock of the U.S. Bank. Members of a pool contributed money, which was handed over to a single operator, who put into effect various strategies and subterfuges. He could depress the price of a stock, buy a lot at the low point, then artificially raise the price, and sell at a profit; or he might sell short, then depress the price and make a profit. —Kathleen Odean, High Steppers, Fallen Angels, and Lollipops, 1988
They obtained the documents by subterfuge.
propagandists who use a kind of photographic subterfuge, superimposing one image on another to create a false “reality”
Recent Examples of subterfuge from the Web
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Sabotage and subterfuge collide in Giles Milton’s Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Picador).
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These men hid their wounds, but their lives have been stained with the effort of that subterfuge.
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Mary and Rita lose track of each other in the ensuing subterfuge, and this is where Gellhorn’s novel achieves its devastating genius.
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This time there was no subterfuge; investigators drove him straight to the Orange County Sheriff’s headquarters in Santa Ana.
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Given the alleged subterfuge, various former officials and experts chimed in with questions on the wisdom of letting the photographer and his equipment into the Oval Office.
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The answer is important, says one expert who played a key role in revealing the bureau’s subterfuge, because sources need to know journalists won’t turn them in.
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As part of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the unit will not be subject to the subterfuge rule, allowing investigators to continue their work.
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The calculated subterfuge was meant to preserve Spain’s official neutrality in the American Revolution while weakening England, Spain’s longtime rival.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'subterfuge'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
subterfuge Has Latin Roots
Though "subterfuge" is a synonym of "deception," "fraud," "double-dealing," and "trickery," there’s nothing tricky about the word’s etymology. We borrowed the word and meaning from Late Latin subterfugium. That word contains the Latin prefix subter-, meaning "secretly," which derives from the adverb subter, meaning "underneath." The "-fuge" portion comes from the Latin verb fugere, which means "to flee" and which is also the source of words such as "fugitive" and "refuge," among others.
Synonym Discussion of subterfuge
SUBTERFUGE Defined for English Language Learners
subterfuge
playDefinition of subterfuge for English Language Learners
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: the use of tricks especially to hide, avoid, or get something
Learn More about subterfuge
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See words that rhyme with subterfuge Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for subterfuge Spanish Central: Translation of subterfuge Nglish: Translation of subterfuge for Spanish speakers
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