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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of outfox
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
In motorsport, Minis used their agility to outfox more powerful rivals, but here the engine no longer feels like a supporting act.
—Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 30 July 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
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
In motorsport, Minis used their agility to outfox more powerful rivals, but here the engine no longer feels like a supporting act.
—Tim Pitt, Robb Report, 30 July 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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Ultimately, the team landed on 24 all-stars who will outwit, outplay and outlast each other for the $1 million prize and bragging rights that come with winning the show’s most competitive season to date.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
22 Feb. 2026
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Folktales are filled with people fighting to survive in forests, steppes, and deserts, and evading and outwitting the wild beasts that dwell within them.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Feb. 2026
Verb
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TikToks promising secret loopholes, Reddit threads dissecting deductions and content creators insisting ways to outsmart the IRS.—
Miriam Fauzia,
Dallas Morning News,
18 Feb. 2026
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Furthermore, Microsoft executives threw in their lot with the mercurial Altman, who doesn’t care at all about them and seems to outsmart them at every turn.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
15 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The ferocity of their scenes together, aided by Arias’ devoted yet outmaneuvered Thea, sets the production ablaze with erotic danger.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Feb. 2026
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Paramount, which was outmaneuvered by Netflix last December, has received a warmer response from WBD this week and the two media companies are continuing to negotiate.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
25 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The event also commemorated roughly 100 protesters who were killed in February 2014 during Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, a pro-Western uprising to thwart Russian influence on the fledgling democratic nation.—
Angie Leventis Lourgos,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 2026
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Russia may have been thwarted in its immediate bid to sweep aside the Ukrainian president and swallow its neighbor whole.—
Yuliya Talmazan,
NBC news,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The conservative-majority court agreed to take up a case from Boulder, Colorado, among a series of lawsuits alleging the companies deceived the public about how fossil fuels contribute to climate change.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
23 Feb. 2026
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The conservative-majority court agreed to take up a case from Boulder, among a series of lawsuits alleging the companies deceived the public about how fossil fuels contribute to climate change.—
Lindsay Whitehurst,
Denver Post,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Newsom successfully defeated the most recent recall attempt in 2021.—
David Mark,
The Washington Examiner,
27 Feb. 2026
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In a September 1, 1939, article, the Bombers claimed their second consecutive state championship on August 27, 1939, behind the pitching of Lillian Brown, who defeated the Manette girls’ team 11-3.—
Sarah Dewberry,
CNN Money,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In their recusal motion aimed at the prosecutor, the defense lawyers had to overcome a high bar to prevail.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
24 Feb. 2026
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To reach the state meet, Riley Kongkaeow has had to overcome an injury that limited her to 22 matches.—
Bobby Narang,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Feb. 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 28 Feb. 2026.
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