as in frustrating
to prevent from achieving a goal
in popular fiction the hero will always foil the villain's plans
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in thwarting
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
as in deterrence
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of foiling
Katie Lockhart, Travel + Leisure, 17 Oct. 2025
Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2025
Instead of doom-scrolling and checking e-mails, spend your device-free days exploring the Cayman reefs, wind foiling, or horseback riding.
—Ronny Maye, Essence, 7 Aug. 2025
Shelley Inglis, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2025
The thermodynamic cost of (temporarily) foiling the second law is lowered.
—Quanta Magazine, 1 Oct. 2025
If speed is the thing, the Dolcevita Super is a good choice, but the Bluegame BGF45 foiling yacht is worthy of a look.
—Kathleen Turner, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2025
There’s no other boat that prepares you for the high-tech, foiling F50 than the F50 itself.
—Andrew Rice, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2025
Customers will also be able to customize their pieces with silver or gold foiling with a choice of letters and motifs.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
Snorkeling, fishing, e-foiling, jetskiing, and stand-up paddleboarding are also available.
—Katie Lockhart, Travel + Leisure, 17 Oct. 2025
Adjective
Available in a limited series and priced at 480 euros, the navy unisex design crafted from leather comes with clean lines, a distinctive statement tongue flap with the Puma logo and the Jil Sander one rendered in golden foiling on the side.
—Sandra Salibian, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2025
Instead of doom-scrolling and checking e-mails, spend your device-free days exploring the Cayman reefs, wind foiling, or horseback riding.
—Ronny Maye, Essence, 7 Aug. 2025
Noun
In South Korea, parts of the civil service, legislature and military declined to support President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law in 2024, foiling his autocratic move.
—Shelley Inglis, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2025
The thermodynamic cost of (temporarily) foiling the second law is lowered.
—Quanta Magazine, 1 Oct. 2025
If speed is the thing, the Dolcevita Super is a good choice, but the Bluegame BGF45 foiling yacht is worthy of a look.
—Kathleen Turner, Forbes.com, 23 Aug. 2025
There’s no other boat that prepares you for the high-tech, foiling F50 than the F50 itself.
—Andrew Rice, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2025
Customers will also be able to customize their pieces with silver or gold foiling with a choice of letters and motifs.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for foiling
Verb
-
Federico Gatti was also excellent in thwarting Madrid’s attacks.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
-
This doomsday mentality drives the Zizians to ideological violence under the banner of thwarting the threat of AI.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
This is not just baffling but really inexcusable.—
Marsha Sutton,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Making his lack of usage even more baffling, the Bills signed Cook on a four-year, $48 million contract extension before the start of the 2025 season.—
Matt Audilet,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Modern warfare increasingly depends on neuroscientific findings to help determine the best ways to train soldiers, defend populations against disinformation, and manage deterrence strategies.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
18 Oct. 2025
-
That morphed following its devastating 1980s war with Iraq into more of an effort to provide a level of deterrence as Arab nations around it purchased sophisticated American bombs, warplanes and tanks that Tehran couldn’t access due to sanctions.—
Jason Ma,
Fortune,
12 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
With injuries and inconsistency hampering the wide receiver corps, the Commanders are set to host former Tennessee Titans first-round draft pick Treylon Burks.—
Josh Buckhalter,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Oct. 2025
-
Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant secretary with the Department of Homeland Security, claimed that the demonstrators were preventing an ICE vehicle from leaving the federal facility and hampering operations.—
David Chiu,
PEOPLE,
10 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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For one Reddit user, navigating recovery on crutches became even more frustrating when her fiancé repeatedly left her car without gas.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
19 Oct. 2025
-
That was the momentum swing that cost the Saints most significantly in a frustrating road loss.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In July, the company established a worldwide distribution deal to scale Sanitized AG’s odor neutralization and antimicrobial technologies.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
13 Oct. 2025
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But Ukraine need not destroy every element of the Russian military to achieve strategic neutralization—stripping away the enemy of its ability to achieve its objectives.—
ANDRIY ZAGORODNYUK,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The success of this experiment suggests that, in the near future, defeating a deadly superbug could be as simple as sending a document to an inkjet printer.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Minor was elected to the Rogers City Council in a runoff in December, defeating Alicia Hayes for the Ward 3, Position 2 seat.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
20 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Palivizumab bound to the prefusion and postfusion F proteins, but the most strongly neutralizing antibodies against RSV were those that only targeted the virus’s prefusion structure.—
Tara Haelle,
Scientific American,
23 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Foiling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/foiling. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.
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