subterfuge

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noun sub·ter·fuge \ ˈsəb-tər-ˌfyüj \

Definition of subterfuge

1 :deception by artifice or stratagem in order to conceal, escape, or evade

2 :a deceptive device or stratagem

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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

In his 1971 Pentagon Papers opinion, Justice Potter Stewart of the Supreme Court noted how longstanding tensions over the public’s right to know had produced a vicious politics of deception and subterfuge. ‘‘

— beverly gage, New York Times, "The Strange Politics of ‘Classified’ Information," 22 Aug. 2017
But, as Stephen Colbert also pointed out last night, the half-baked subterfuge doesn't end there.

— jack holmes, Esquire, "Stephen Colbert Just Dug Up an Absurd Nugget in Trump Jr.'s Russia Statement," 11 July 2017
Sabotage and subterfuge collide in Giles Milton’s Churchill’s Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (Picador).

— sloane crosley, Vanities, "Mariana Enriquez’s Things We Lost in the Fire, Anders Rydell’s The Book Thieves, and More Brooding Books for the Dark Days of Winter," 19 June 2017
But Hannity’s diatribe showed that on the far-right, there is an insatiable appetite for the president to fight back against what his most fervent defenders increasingly see as an act of subterfuge by the deep state.

— tina nguyen, vanityfair.com, "Trump’s Right-Wing Foot Soldiers Are Calling for Mueller’s Head," 15 June 2017
But Hannity’s diatribe showed that on the far-right, there is an insatiable appetite for the president to fight back against what his most fervent defenders increasingly see as an act of subterfuge by the deep state.

— tina nguyen, The Hive, "Trump’s Right-Wing Foot Soldiers Are Calling for Mueller’s Head," 15 June 2017
The work, which appears at first to be ordinary decorative wallpaper, hides symbols of suppression and subterfuge: surveillance cameras, handcuffs and Twitter bird logos.

— jennifer nalewicki, Smithsonian, "12 New Art Exhibits to See This Summer," 9 June 2017
These men hid their wounds, but their lives have been stained with the effort of that subterfuge.

— james wood, The New Yorker, "W. G. Sebald, Humorist," 31 May 2017
Mary and Rita lose track of each other in the ensuing subterfuge, and this is where Gellhorn’s novel achieves its devastating genius.

— benjamin anastas, New York Times, "Martha Gellhorn’s Greatest Novel Is Essential Reading for Today," 25 May 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of subterfuge

Late Latin subterfugium, from Latin subterfugere to escape, evade, from subter- secretly (from subter underneath; akin to Latin sub under) + fugere to flee — more at up, fugitive

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1573

See Words from the same year

subterfuge Synonyms

Synonyms

artifice, chicane, chicanery, gamesmanship, hanky-panky, jiggery-pokery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), trickery, wile

Near Antonyms

artlessness, forthrightness, guilelessness, ingenuousness, sincerity; candidness, candor, directness, openness, plainness, plainspokenness

Synonym Discussion of subterfuge

deception, fraud, double-dealing, subterfuge, trickery mean the acts or practices of one who deliberately deceives. deception may or may not imply blameworthiness, since it may suggest cheating or merely tactical resource.