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
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gambit
In Bronstein’s riskiest formal gambit, the child’s face is carefully hidden from view, in every shot except one.
—
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
Her gambit works, and the season ends with Macy telling Franks that there's insufficient evidence to pursue the case.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Oct. 2025
The all-or-nothing moonshot pay plan was a gambit so risky even Axon Enterprise CEO Rick Smith’s wife was against it.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2025
One programming gambit that captures more attention in the current era is news commentary and partisan presentation.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gambit
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
Her gambit works, and the season ends with Macy telling Franks that there's insufficient evidence to pursue the case.
—Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 5 Oct. 2025
The all-or-nothing moonshot pay plan was a gambit so risky even Axon Enterprise CEO Rick Smith’s wife was against it.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2025
One programming gambit that captures more attention in the current era is news commentary and partisan presentation.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gambit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gambit
Noun
-
The New York Colored American reported that some offers of short-term work for Black men — moving livestock to or from Kentucky, for example — were ruses that ended with kidnappings.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Odysseus, the Ithacan warrior who is as celebrated for craftiness as Achilles is for brute strength, devises a clever ruse in which the Greeks place a giant wooden horse outside Troy’s walls and pretend to sail away.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Cherki is a dying breed of player, particularly now he’s been transferred to a Premier League which has moved away from off-the-cuff dribblers and towards set-play schemes.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
8 Nov. 2025
-
Another worker operates the machine’s main controller, using a programming scheme for 3D printers called G-code to tell the printer what to build and how to build it.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The oldest trick in the book … foiled by those pesky Bravo cameras.—
Tom Smyth,
Vulture,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The next evolution of creative culture isn’t faster turnaround or cooler AI tricks.—
Rochelle Ratkaj,
Rolling Stone,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gambit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gambit. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share