1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

outfoxing

verb

present participle of outfox
as in defeating
to get the better of through cleverness the prisoners outfoxed the guards by tunneling beneath the prison walls

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 outfoxing Both candidates attempted to court voters by outfoxing each other in their support of the then-former president and the race became increasingly negative. — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 13 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outfoxing
  1. defeating
  2. outwitting
  3. outsmarting
  4. outmaneuvering
  5. thwarting
  6. deceiving
  7. overcoming
  8. fooling
Verb
  • The Cougars have a bye week after defeating former TCU quarterback Hauss Hejny and Colorado State 41-23 on Saturday.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Sep. 2026
  • The campaign also places particular emphasis on technologies capable of defeating drones while minimizing collateral damage.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of defeating
Verb
  • Similar storm-clouds are now gathering around Sánchez, a canny politician known for outwitting his opponents.
    — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 21 June 2026
  • Bob Markle was good at outwitting violators.
    — Dave Duffey, Outdoor Life, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of outwitting
Verb
  • The problem, according to Hinton, is that humans will no longer be able to rely on outsmarting super-intelligent AI models.
    — Matt Egan, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The Fan, the season-long unsub obsessed with one-upping and outsmarting his idol.
    — Joyce Eng, Entertainment Weekly, 23 July 2026
Definition of outsmarting
Verb
  • The characters' abilities are built around outmaneuvering, not outgunning.
    — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 15 Aug. 2026
  • May built one of the most dominant teams in Big Ten history by outmaneuvering his peers in the transfer portal.
    — Austin Meek, New York Times, 30 June 2026
Definition of outmaneuvering
Verb
  • Los Angeles police corralled and arrested scores of minibike riders on Sunday, thwarting a takeover of 6th Street Bridge.
    — Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Oregon is one of the only states in the country with a carve-out in its public records law that prevents disclosing the financial details of subsidized housing projects, thwarting researchers and journalists who have tried to examine their costs.
    — Rob Davis, ProPublica, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of thwarting
Verb
  • The Bucs couldn’t ask for a better bounce-back opponent after dropping their opener in Cincy, a somewhat deceiving result because of all the Baker Mayfield turnovers.
    — Hank Gola, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The public deserves to know which of his points were defensible and which were deceiving.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of deceiving
Verb
  • Andersson faces the task of overcoming differences in the opposition bloc.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Also, underwater solar deployment requires overcoming extreme conditions such as corrosive salt, high pressure, and water ingress.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of overcoming
Verb
  • In the highlight, Marshall retrieves the ball and oddly fires it back to the infield, fooling no one.
    — Tyler Kepner, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
  • Anybody hoping that a Netanyahu defeat in October and the emergence of a less controversial successor will reset the table is likely fooling themselves.
    — Daniel DePetris, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of fooling

Browse Nearby Words

outfoxes
outfoxing
out-front
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Outfoxing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outfoxing. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tactile

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Sept. 25
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All