as in defeating
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outfoxing
Verb
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Matt Bryant kicks a 49-yard field goal with 8 seconds left and the Atlanta Falcons bounce back after blowing a 20-point lead in the fourth quarter, defeating Seattle 30-28 in an NFC divisional playoff game.—
Assistant Sports Editor,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Jan. 2026 -
Fortunately, Pep Guardiola’s side had a similarly testing tie, defeating League One Exeter City 10-1.—
Chris Waugh,
New York Times,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Time and Numbers—there’s no outwitting them.—
Joy Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
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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
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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
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Because some of them act like complete idiots, but Wendy is constantly outsmarting everyone.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Mamdani will lead a city of over 8 million people, the capital of media, finance and much else, whose annual budget tops $116 billion, after outmaneuvering rivals with decades more experience in a race that captured national attention.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
5 Nov. 2025
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Relay is a smart, small-scale espionage film focused on operatives outmaneuvering one another.—
Scott Phillips,
Forbes.com,
19 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Justin was arguably United’s man of the match, personally thwarting Florian Wirtz with two last-gasp blocks in the first half as a wing-back, before proving equally dependable at centre-back in the latter stages.—
Beren Cross,
New York Times,
2 Jan. 2026
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Askarov finished with 20 saves for the Sharks, including thwarting Quinn Hughes on an overtime breakaway.—
Jess Myers,
Twin Cities,
31 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Relying Too Much On Garbage Disposals Though the name may be deceiving, garbage disposals aren’t actually designed to dispose of all garbage.—
Quincy Bulin,
Southern Living,
3 Jan. 2026
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That level of eye-deceiving detail falters in wide shots, however, some of which suffer from unflattering flat lighting that in certain instances recall computer screensavers of yore, given their colorful artificiality.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
30 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The team overcoming those injuries defined the season.—
Chris Biderman,
Sacbee.com,
12 Jan. 2026
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The search company has been on the rise after putting together the pieces for its AI comeback and overcoming key regulatory hurdles last year.—
Jennifer Elias,
CNBC,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Early reports indicate that kids are fooling the age-recognition software with sophisticated techniques such as drawing on facial hair and substituting celebrity photos for their own.—
Jay Caspian Kang,
New Yorker,
23 Dec. 2025
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Anyone who thinks that this is an issue that could have been solved by nominating a couple more Spider-Man movies is fooling themselves.—
Nate Jones,
Vulture,
19 Dec. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Outfoxing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outfoxing. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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