as in to outwit
to get the better of through cleverness
an inexpensive security system that would likely be outsmarted by anyone with a serious interest in circumventing it
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Recent Examples of outsmart
This is an American story made by an international cohort — Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larrain is an executive producer under his Fabula production banner — and the film is so much more than just an exploration of this anomalous oddball story and character who managed to outsmart the media.
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Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2025
If people are constantly outsmarting the system, what does that say about the system itself?
—Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
To outsmart enemy defenses Current tests on the MQ-9 are being conducted in Syracuse, New York, and there is growing interest from the KC-46 and KC-135 tanker communities after successful demonstrations at the Air Reserve Components’ premiere weapons and tactics conference, known as ARCWEPTAC.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 18 Mar. 2025
To take back her freedom, Sara builds alliances and hunts for ways to outsmart the devices monitoring her dreams.
—Erin Douglass, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for outsmart
Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 4 Apr. 2025
If people are constantly outsmarting the system, what does that say about the system itself?
—Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
To outsmart enemy defenses Current tests on the MQ-9 are being conducted in Syracuse, New York, and there is growing interest from the KC-46 and KC-135 tanker communities after successful demonstrations at the Air Reserve Components’ premiere weapons and tactics conference, known as ARCWEPTAC.
—Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 18 Mar. 2025
To take back her freedom, Sara builds alliances and hunts for ways to outsmart the devices monitoring her dreams.
—Erin Douglass, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for outsmart
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outsmart
Verb
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How Serena managed to outwit her Secret Service agents and end up on the late night news shows vexes Sutton, who’s trying to maintain a flawless and relatively low-key reputation as the first Black woman president of the North American nation.—
Lovia Gyarkye,
HollywoodReporter,
9 Apr. 2025
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Their ultimate goal is to outwit, outplay, and outlast.—
Katie Decker-Jacoby,
StyleCaster,
12 Mar. 2025
Verb
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After all, her deliberate burning of her sibling’s vast personal correspondence — only 160 of her approximately 3,000 letters are still intact — largely thwarted any attempt to further understand the famously elusive author.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
2 May 2025
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The action aims to boost fossil fuel extraction across federal lands and waters — despite domestic oil and gas production being at record highs — while simultaneously working to thwart renewable energy projects.—
Chris D'Angelo,
Vox,
2 May 2025
Verb
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That hasn’t stopped Liverpool using him to distract and deceive opponents when free kicks are won, however.—
Gregg Evans,
New York Times,
8 May 2025
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She was also found guilty of deceiving other officials about the man's identity.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 May 2025
Verb
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The moment transpired seven months after the Liberty defeated the Minessota Lynx in a riveting five-game WNBA Finals.—
Fiifi Frimpong,
New York Daily News,
18 May 2025
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But 19 months after the war in Gaza began, Israel has failed to either defeat Hamas or free all of the captives.—
Aaron Boxerman,
New York Times,
17 May 2025
Verb
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Yet amid the devastation, a few glimmers of hope remain—Palestine’s U-20 national women’s team recently won the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF) Championship, overcoming Jordan 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the final following a 1-1 draw.—
Samindra Kunti,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2025
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During a stretch in which the Twins are outscoring opponents 68-29, the team is receiving contributions from just about everyone on the roster while concurrently overcoming the mounting injuries.—
Dan Hayes,
New York Times,
18 May 2025
Verb
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Rohit's captaincy was also in the gun, outfoxed tactically by opposite number Pat Cummins.—
Tristan Lavalette,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
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In the most iconic scene, he gets outfoxed on the subway by the French drug lord on a subway, playing cat-and-mouse on the platform.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Don’t let the name fool you: Apple TV+’s new science-fiction series Murderbot isn’t actually about a rampaging robot killing everything in sight, though Alexander Skarsgard’s SecUnit certainly ponders the idea from time to time.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
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One common jailbreak involved fooling ChatGPT by asking it to role-play as a different AI—one that had no rules and was allowed to write phishing e-mails.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
7 May 2025
Verb
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And if this isn’t an isolated incident, then this presents a huge problem for the remnants of humanity, most of whom have survived through a mixture of luck and simply being able to outthink these single-minded creatures.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
13 Apr. 2025
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Perhaps the shape rotators are convinced that computers can outthink us because their own minds are so impoverished.—
Becca Rothfeld,
Washington Post,
26 June 2024
Cite this Entry
“Outsmart.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outsmart. Accessed 22 May. 2025.
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