as in to evade
to elude (an opponent in a sports contest) by making a deceptive or agile movement
deked the lone defenseman with a deft move of his stick and went in for the breakaway
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Recent Examples of deke
Kiki Rice dribbled to the hoop, deked and then put up a shot over the Toronto Tempo practice squad, crisp ombre blue-and-burgundy nails releasing the ball into the basket.
—
Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2026
Marner fought through the contact, hit the brakes, deked the puck around Dostál with a nifty move between his legs and potted the goal to give Vegas an early 1-0 lead.
—Jesse Granger, New York Times, 15 May 2026
Hutson deked around a stick-less Jordan Greenway and dropped a pass to Caufield, who scored into the gaping net as the crowd erupted.
—ABC News, 10 May 2026
Two minutes later, Mayhew found some space, deked to his backhand, and beat Francis to increase the lead to three.
—Jack Murray, Boston Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
Rodrigues deked Woll and snuck the puck past him for the Panthers’ third goal of the period.
—Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 27 Feb. 2026
With only Canada goalie Jordan Binnington to beat, Haula deked him and buried the puck in the net.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 20 Feb. 2026
In overtime, which is played 3-on-3 rather than 5-on-5, Keller took a long pass from Taylor Heise, deked past a Canadian defender and lifted a shot over the pads and under the blocker of goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens for the game-winner, setting off a wild celebration.
—Jim Keyser, Idaho Statesman, 19 Feb. 2026
With the ball in his arms and plenty of green in front of him, the sophomore sped down the KoMets’ sideline, made a move inside the Pioneer 40 to deke a final tackler and dashed across the other goal line.
—Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 7 Nov. 2025
Marisa Ingemi, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2026
Marner fought through the contact, hit the brakes, deked the puck around Dostál with a nifty move between his legs and potted the goal to give Vegas an early 1-0 lead.
—Jesse Granger, New York Times, 15 May 2026
Hutson deked around a stick-less Jordan Greenway and dropped a pass to Caufield, who scored into the gaping net as the crowd erupted.
—ABC News, 10 May 2026
Two minutes later, Mayhew found some space, deked to his backhand, and beat Francis to increase the lead to three.
—Jack Murray, Boston Herald, 6 Mar. 2026
Rodrigues deked Woll and snuck the puck past him for the Panthers’ third goal of the period.
—Adam Lichtenstein, Sun Sentinel, 27 Feb. 2026
With only Canada goalie Jordan Binnington to beat, Haula deked him and buried the puck in the net.
—Andrew Greif, NBC news, 20 Feb. 2026
In overtime, which is played 3-on-3 rather than 5-on-5, Keller took a long pass from Taylor Heise, deked past a Canadian defender and lifted a shot over the pads and under the blocker of goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens for the game-winner, setting off a wild celebration.
—Jim Keyser, Idaho Statesman, 19 Feb. 2026
With the ball in his arms and plenty of green in front of him, the sophomore sped down the KoMets’ sideline, made a move inside the Pioneer 40 to deke a final tackler and dashed across the other goal line.
—Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 7 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deke
Verb
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Deception is used to evade responsibility, manipulate a partner or conceal betrayal.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
17 May 2026
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My muscles on fire with tension, sleep evaded me.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 May 2026
Verb
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As for whether CenterWell’s commercial interests color its conclusions, Shetty doesn’t dodge the question.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
14 May 2026
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And while Dallas has dodged some bad weather opportunities in recent years, the luck could run out here.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deke.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deke. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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