1
as in deceiving
to cause to believe what is untrue
my friends faked me out for a whole day, letting me think that they had forgotten my birthday
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in evading
to elude (an opponent in a sports contest) by making a deceptive or agile movement
used a quick between-the-legs dribble to fake out the flat-footed defender
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of faking out
Old Dominion started fast, with quarterback Colton Joseph faking out the Hoosiers defense on the first offensive play of the game and sprinting 75 yards for a touchdown.
—
Michael Marot, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Michael Marot, Chicago Tribune, 30 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for faking out
Verb
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But looks can be deceiving and this Aunt Gladys has some sinister motives.—
Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal,
Parents,
18 Sep. 2025
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Topline The Federal Trade Commission and seven states filed a lawsuit against Ticketmaster and Live Nation on Thursday, accusing the ticket sellers of deceiving artists and consumers by allowing consumers to buy large numbers of tickets and resell them for much higher prices.—
Conor Murray,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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After evading capture at first, the bird was caught in June 2023.—
Moná Thomas,
PEOPLE,
26 Sep. 2025
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Garcia-Hernandez allegedly has convictions for giving fictitious information, evading arrest, driving while intoxicated and fleeing police.—
Lauren Villagran,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Regulators argue Amazon broke competition and consumer protection laws by tricking customers into subscribing to Prime.—
Annie Palmer,
CNBC,
23 Sep. 2025
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Netflix After Jake betrays Vince by tricking him into revealing his whereabouts to Mancuso and his lackey Babbitt (Chris Coy) to protect Vince's daughter Gen (Odessa Young) and get her to safety, Jake rushes to help Vince once again escape a vengeful Mancuso's clutches.—
Megan McCluskey,
Time,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Instead of fooling millions of people individually, attackers need only to compromise one AI model to reach millions at once.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
20 Sep. 2025
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Your press release isn’t fooling anyone.—
Roberta Matuson,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Julia thinks so too, and presses in, sucking in a breath when Ellen mentions Fairy Hill and how people dance into the nights and wake up a hundred years later.—
Lincee Ray Published,
EW.com,
22 Aug. 2025
Verb
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That’s part of taking in all the information.—
Patrick Mooney,
New York Times,
8 Sep. 2025
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There’s also a paved trail for taking in views or birding.—
Eve Chen,
USA Today,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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What effect is this having on the WNBA?—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Pat Kelsey wasn't kidding about wanting the smoke.—
Leo Bertucci,
The Courier-Journal,
2 Sep. 2025
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In 2019, Lebanese depositors discovered that their banking system had, in effect, just been kidding about those savings accounts.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Faking out.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/faking%20out. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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