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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outfoxing
Verb
-
Behind Wemby's strong contributions, the Spurs also won their first three games, defeating the Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Pelicans.—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
27 Oct. 2025 -
But then, in the second group phase — consisting of four groups of three, in the first 24-team World Cup — Italy exploded into life despite a very tough draw, defeating holders Argentina and favourites Brazil.—
Michael Cox,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Time and Numbers—there’s no outwitting them.—
Joy Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
Ben Shapiro, Pete Buttigieg, Michael Knowles, Alex O’Connor—these are professional debaters capable of outwitting and outreasoning almost any audience member unfamiliar with traditional debate techniques, regardless of the topic or claim being considered.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
8 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Invite critiques to maintain humility Nicholas likes to tell his team that loyalty in retail is just the absence of something better, and he is driven by a fear of rivals like Costco outsmarting his business.—
Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson,
semafor.com,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Because some of them act like complete idiots, but Wendy is constantly outsmarting everyone.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Relay is a smart, small-scale espionage film focused on operatives outmaneuvering one another.—
Scott Phillips,
Forbes.com,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Federico Gatti was also excellent in thwarting Madrid’s attacks.—
James Horncastle,
New York Times,
23 Oct. 2025
-
This doomsday mentality drives the Zizians to ideological violence under the banner of thwarting the threat of AI.—
Mia Cathell,
The Washington Examiner,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
To begin with, looks that are deceiving.—
Lizz Schumer,
PEOPLE,
21 Oct. 2025
-
That’s 14 years of dreaming, dissolving, romanticizing, escaping, and sometimes deceiving ourselves.—
Dossé-Via Trenou,
Refinery29,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Penix and London, along with Bijan Robinson, have been heavily involved in Atlanta's offense this season, so regardless of who the opponent is missing, overcoming the loss of your starting quarterback and leading pass catcher will be a tough task.—
Cameron Belcher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
26 Oct. 2025
-
But there's also a lot of stories of people overcoming a lot of obstacles, and that's synonymous with what Kayla has done.—
Victoria Moorwood,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
26 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
From footage of rabbits jumping on trampolines to babies walking from birth, some videos are easy to spot while others are fooling audiences.—
Alice Gibbs,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Oct. 2025
-
As Rolling Stone has previously reported, bogus images of classic rockers in hospitals or singing at the graves of other rockers have flooded the internet — fooling some fans in the process and provoking laughs in just as many.—
David Browne,
Rolling Stone,
21 Oct. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Outfoxing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outfoxing. Accessed 28 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share