as in evaded
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 deked
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Brayden McNabb flipped the puck into the air and onto Stone’s stick, who raced down alone and deked around Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood to put Vegas ahead early.
—
Jesse Granger, New York Times, 27 May 2026
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
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
From a similar spot on the pitch, Poirier deked a defender and her centering pass was headed in by Aflakpi soon thereafter.
—Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 29 Oct. 2025
Jesse Granger, New York Times, 27 May 2026
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
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
From a similar spot on the pitch, Poirier deked a defender and her centering pass was headed in by Aflakpi soon thereafter.
—Mike Cook, Twin Cities, 29 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deked
Verb
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The aesthetic has seemingly evaded the controversy that’s erupted from Levinson’s eight-episode parable, which officially finished on Sunday.—
Kaleigh Werner,
Footwear News,
1 June 2026
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Poor Pollination Your peach tree might be perfectly pruned and evaded a late freeze, but none of that matters if its blossoms aren’t properly pollinated.—
Rachel Silva,
Martha Stewart,
25 May 2026
Verb
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Kroeger then juked out an oncoming defender before finding his receiver in the end zone for a 44-yard touchdown pass.—
Sam Warren,
Houston Chronicle,
11 Mar. 2026
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Instead, Matthews juked Jeff Skinner, blowing by the Sabres forward.—
Joshua Kloke,
New York Times,
8 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Deked.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deked. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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