Synonyms of gambit

gambit

noun

ˈgam-bət 

as in ruse

a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end

The seemingly benign questioning was all just a gambit to get them to fess up to their wrongdoing.

Synonyms & Similar Words

• ruse
• scheme
• trick
• device
• stratagem
• ploy
• jig
• dodge
• sleight of hand
• fetch
• bluff
• knack
• gimmick
• flimflam
• sleight
• wile
• play
• deception
• artifice
• cunning
• feint
• subterfuge
• juggle
• shenanigan
• trickery
• chicanery
• duplicity
• hoax
• swindle
• skulduggery
• end run
• swindling
• legerdemain
• jugglery
• cheating
• fakery
• fraud
• sham
• gaff
• crookery
• blind
• smoke screen
• craft
• cozenage
• front
• dupery

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of gambit

The gambit worked, as Tech and Sorsby backed down amidst intense national backlash. — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026

Luigi Mangione’s stunning eleventh-hour guilty plea to federal stalking charges is expected to send him to prison for decades, but the risky gambit might result in his release before his 60th birthday. — Molly Crane-Newman, New York Daily News, 22 Aug. 2026

Still, dollarization would prove an incredibly bold gambit for a nation of Venezuela’s size and importance. — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 20 Aug. 2026

Flagrantly practicing an especially ribald strain of cringe comedy that brushes several third rails, often simultaneously, the show could have been a disastrous gambit. — Paula Mejía, New Yorker, 17 Aug. 2026

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