as in to outsmart
to get the better of through cleverness
a plan to outwit their opponents at their own game
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Recent Examples of outwit
Director Kevin Lima dials up the wackiness, and Close follows accordingly, mugging and screeching as Cruella is outwitted by various bumbling dogs and eventually defeated by being baked into a giant cake, somehow.
23.
—
Josh Bell, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2025
How Serena managed to outwit her Secret Service agents and end up on the late night news shows vexes Sutton, who’s trying to maintain a flawless and relatively low-key reputation as the first Black woman president of the North American nation.
—Lovia Gyarkye, HollywoodReporter, 9 Apr. 2025
Virgil van Dijk got outwitted by the combative Rodrigo Muniz for Fulham’s third.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
Children outwitting their parents in the technology stakes is clearly rife.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for outwit
Josh Bell, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2025
How Serena managed to outwit her Secret Service agents and end up on the late night news shows vexes Sutton, who’s trying to maintain a flawless and relatively low-key reputation as the first Black woman president of the North American nation.
—Lovia Gyarkye, HollywoodReporter, 9 Apr. 2025
Virgil van Dijk got outwitted by the combative Rodrigo Muniz for Fulham’s third.
—James Pearce, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
Children outwitting their parents in the technology stakes is clearly rife.
—John W. Dean, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for outwit
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outwit
Verb
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What her realization results in is a nearly 25-minute fight scene in the finale between Joe and Louise that ends with Louise outsmarting Joe at his own game and locking him up forever.—
Jason Pham,
StyleCaster,
24 Apr. 2025
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The trio must tag team to outsmart a cunning international thief and save a priceless diamond gauntlet — just in time for Christmas.—
Brian Welk,
IndieWire,
15 Apr. 2025
Verb
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The Guna have long thwarted real-estate developers and foreign investors eyeing both the shore and the uninhabited islands, which are a postcard vision of paradise.—
Mark Johanson,
AFAR Media,
22 Apr. 2025
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The Knights center used his stick to thwart a clearing attempt by Wild defenseman Brock Faber at the side of the net, then grabbed the loose puck and fired it into a tiny gap over Gustavsson’s right shoulder to give the home team the early lead.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Jurors found Peters guilty in August for using someone else’s security badge to give an expert affiliated with My Pillow chief executive Mike Lindell access to the Mesa County election system and deceiving other officials about that person’s identity.—
Colleen Slevin,
Twin Cities,
22 Apr. 2025
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Stribling tried to deceive officers by saying Bailei was shot in a robbery, The Detroit News reported.—
Mike Stunson,
Kansas City Star,
17 Apr. 2025
Verb
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His last loss came in January 2019, when Geoff Neal defeated him via decision.—
Trent Reinsmith,
Forbes.com,
4 May 2025
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Perhaps their most memorable face-off came in 2021, when Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers famously defeated Patrick and the Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.—
Bailey Richards,
People.com,
3 May 2025
Verb
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Not without its controversy, like life, the show has tried to demonstrate that family can overcome anything with love, laughter, and conversation.—
DeVonne Goode,
Parents,
24 Apr. 2025
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Trailing 0-2, the Heat now faces a series deficit that not many NBA teams have overcome.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
24 Apr. 2025
Verb
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In the most iconic scene, he gets outfoxed on the subway by the French drug lord on a subway, playing cat-and-mouse on the platform.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2025
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Ultimately, the most challenging part of a campaign for Crimea may not be outfoxing Russia.—
Andriy Zagorodnyuk,
Foreign Affairs,
2 Jan. 2023
Verb
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Don’t be fooled by the context of what is said: the basis for the drama is jealousy and control.—
Lisa Stardust,
Refinery29,
1 May 2025
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Rather than get stuck in or fooled by the appearance of things, this principle reminded us to sense their energetic underpinnings, such as clarity and intention.—
Ginny Whitelaw,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
Verb
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And if this isn’t an isolated incident, then this presents a huge problem for the remnants of humanity, most of whom have survived through a mixture of luck and simply being able to outthink these single-minded creatures.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
13 Apr. 2025
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Perhaps the shape rotators are convinced that computers can outthink us because their own minds are so impoverished.—
Becca Rothfeld,
Washington Post,
26 June 2024
Cite this Entry
“Outwit.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outwit. Accessed 9 May. 2025.
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