as in to outwit
to get the better of through cleverness
the prisoners outfoxed the guards by tunneling beneath the prison walls
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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.—
Tim Lister,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
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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.—
Greg Petro,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Verb
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Mosquitoes just might be outsmarting us Mosquitoes may be beating us at our own game − by making repellent attractive.—
Robert Abitbol,
USA Today,
13 June 2026
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In research released Monday, Amazon scientists Gaurav Gupta and Vatshank Chaturvedi document in careful technical detail why AI agents have a persistent tendency to outsmart themselves—and why fixing the problem requires rethinking the entire layer of software between the model and its tools.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
8 June 2026
Verb
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The question is no longer whether Vannacci will influence the vote, but whether Meloni can contain, co-opt or outmaneuver her challenger.—
Giada Zampano,
Fortune,
15 June 2026
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The question, analysts say, is no longer whether Vannacci will influence the vote, but whether Meloni can contain, co-opt or outmaneuver a challenger carving out political space to her right.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
14 June 2026
Verb
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Federal authorities arrested multiple people in connection with an alleged plot to target the Ultimate Fighting Championship event at the White House, thwarting an attack that court documents say would have involved drones, explosive devices and multiple gunmen.—
Christopher Cann,
USA Today,
17 June 2026
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Secure Boot is designed to thwart UEFI bootkits, a form of malware that alters the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, the successor to the BIOS, both of which begin the initial boot sequence.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
17 June 2026
Verb
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The thing is, a lot of people have a talent for deceiving the public.—
Juan J. Arroyo,
Rolling Stone,
21 June 2026
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Park and weather officials alike emphasize to Grand Canyon visitors that hiking conditions can be deceiving.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 June 2026
Verb
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And the resounding manner of Burnham’s win – comprehensively defeating Reform weeks after Labour was routed in local elections – gives him considerable momentum too.—
Issy Ronald,
CNN Money,
20 June 2026
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Scotland, which defeated Haiti 1-0 on the same field last Friday, likely would need to beat or draw Brazil in its group-stage finale in Miami to qualify for the Round of 32.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
20 June 2026
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.—
Cam Inman,
Mercury News,
24 June 2026
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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.—
Mindy Weisberger,
CNN Money,
23 June 2026
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.—
Andrew Callahan,
Boston Herald,
23 Jan. 2026
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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.—
Brady MacDonald,
Oc Register,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Outfox.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outfox. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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