as in to outwit
to get the better of through cleverness
the prisoners outfoxed the guards by tunneling beneath the prison walls
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of outfox
Los Angeles had already outfoxed the 49ers in 2021 by trading for Matthew Stafford, who was also on Shanahan’s radar.
—
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
2 Oct. 2025
No doubt remained that I’d been outfoxed.
—
Charles Elliott,
Outdoor Life,
21 Aug. 2025
The target, thinking himself clever, buys and introduces the cards into the game, unwittingly outfoxed.
—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
The most challenging part of a campaign for Crimea may not be outfoxing Russia.
—
Andriy Zagorodnyuk,
Foreign Affairs,
2 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for outfox
Jerry McDonald,
Mercury News,
2 Oct. 2025
No doubt remained that I’d been outfoxed.
—
Charles Elliott,
Outdoor Life,
21 Aug. 2025
The target, thinking himself clever, buys and introduces the cards into the game, unwittingly outfoxed.
—
Adam Gopnik,
New Yorker,
4 Aug. 2025
The most challenging part of a campaign for Crimea may not be outfoxing Russia.
—
Andriy Zagorodnyuk,
Foreign Affairs,
2 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for outfox
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outfox
Verb
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Similar storm-clouds are now gathering around Sánchez, a canny politician known for outwitting his opponents.
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Out of the first 3,000 participants, only three adults managed to outwit the kids and win the million-dollar grand prize.
Verb
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The world’s leading superpower was outsmarted by Iran, perhaps because Iran’s secretary of defense took his job seriously.
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Meanwhile, Tyreese is outsmarted by the Terminus Tiger Fan, who grabs baby Judith and threatens to snap her neck unless Tyreese walks unarmed into a herd of walkers outside.
Verb
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Novo and Lilly have sought to outmaneuver one another with price cuts for cash-paying customers whose insurance plans don't cover the medications.
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The series will also recreate pivotal moments from Carlos’ life, while Carr examines how Carlos outmaneuvered intelligence services before being captured.
Verb
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In the 31st minute, Morocco's Achraf Hakimi received the ball downfield in front of the box but was thwarted by Haiti's goalkeeper Johny Placide.
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Starmer’s attempt to tackle Britain’s spiralling benefits bill was thwarted by his own MPs.
Verb
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Appearance, though, can be deceiving, but luckily, this shed is still packed with smart features and a clever design that will keep all your belongings safe.
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Here, however, the joke is that appearances can be deceiving — or to be more specific, that trying to act like a character in a movie is a reckless, unwise thing to do.
Verb
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Huffines defeated Kelly Hancock, a longtime Abbott ally who the governor appointed to the seat in July.
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In the early matchups, Ecuador upset Germany, Ivory Coast beat Curaçao 2-0, the Netherlands defeated Tunisia 3-1, and Japan and Sweden tied 1-1.
Verb
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Rather than be benched, Devers batted cleanup, overcame an 0-for-3 start, and singled up the middle in the seventh to score Bryce Eldridge, who narrowly beat a tag at the plate for a 3-1 lead.
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Its highly specialized strategy likely evolved to take advantage of the ant’s natural aggression and then overcome its defenses; the slingshot mechanism flings the ant from the foraging trail, reducing the risk that the spider will be swarmed by other workers, the researchers hypothesized.
Verb
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That will require out-foxing Patriots defensive play-caller Zak Kuhr, whose pressure game plans suffocated the Chargers and Texans the past two weeks.
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Having a robotic bear, rabbit, chicken or fox the size of a refrigerator coming after you in the dark was truly terrifying.
Cite this Entry
“Outfox.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outfox. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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