as in outwitted
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 outsmarted
And some of the bees that technically failed the test may have actually outsmarted their contemporaries—by learning to work smarter, not harder.
—
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
4 June 2026
Sunday outsmarted Adam and Hannah with a ruse at Tribal Council.
—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 May 2026
Instead of drafting franchise cornerstones in JaMarr Chase or Penei Sewell, ex-GM Chris Grier outsmarted himself.
—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
The struggle resonated with parents on Reddit, many of whom admitted they have been outsmarted by their own baby gear.
—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
1 Apr. 2026
In each of these cases, a tech company outsmarted a human—or several—either by producing text convincing enough to pass the smell test, or by creating and marketing a service that convinced a writer to offload part of their labor.
—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
He gets outsmarted by Forst and trapped in a symbiotic relationship where has to work for the world’s worst man to see his discovery come to fruition.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Mar. 2026
However, ancient mythology is filled with examples of crafty foxes being outsmarted by their own traps.
—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
20 Jan. 2026
However, Cena outsmarted him by grabbing the chair, throwing it next to Dom, and pretending to be down on the mat.
—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Nov. 2025
Adam Kovac,
Scientific American,
4 June 2026
Sunday outsmarted Adam and Hannah with a ruse at Tribal Council.
—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
22 May 2026
Instead of drafting franchise cornerstones in JaMarr Chase or Penei Sewell, ex-GM Chris Grier outsmarted himself.
—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
The struggle resonated with parents on Reddit, many of whom admitted they have been outsmarted by their own baby gear.
—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
1 Apr. 2026
In each of these cases, a tech company outsmarted a human—or several—either by producing text convincing enough to pass the smell test, or by creating and marketing a service that convinced a writer to offload part of their labor.
—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
1 Apr. 2026
He gets outsmarted by Forst and trapped in a symbiotic relationship where has to work for the world’s worst man to see his discovery come to fruition.
—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
10 Mar. 2026
However, ancient mythology is filled with examples of crafty foxes being outsmarted by their own traps.
—
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld,
Time,
20 Jan. 2026
However, Cena outsmarted him by grabbing the chair, throwing it next to Dom, and pretending to be down on the mat.
—
Matthew Couden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outsmarted
Verb
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Towering over the town is another, much bigger, Venetian fort, the Palamidhi (named after Palamedes, Nafplio’s legendarily clever local hero, who outwitted Odysseus and, well, didn’t live long enough to regret it).
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Twenty-six years ago, students treated a visit by then-President Bill Clinton as a challenge, and outwitted the Secret Service by secretly rigging a banner to unfurl at an inopportune moment.
Verb
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Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper each homered for the second straight game and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the New York Mets 6-2 on Sunday night.
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Atlanta defeated Indiana 108-101 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Thursday, with Reese posting 21 points and 11 rebounds and Clark scoring 26 points in the loss.
Verb
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Some people in Israel say Netanyahu, in a way, deceived Trump.
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One is to emphasize Iago—the guileful, insinuating convincingness of this malicious supervillain, who works on Othello to the point where any reasonable man would be deceived and fooled and worked into a rage that can lead to such a catastrophe.
Verb
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In the 31st minute, Morocco's Achraf Hakimi received the ball downfield in front of the box but was thwarted by Haiti's goalkeeper Johny Placide.
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Starmer’s attempt to tackle Britain’s spiralling benefits bill was thwarted by his own MPs.
Verb
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Infantino endured another lesson in the limits of his facile brand of diplomacy in Vancouver, when he was outmaneuvered by Jibril Rajoub, the 73-year-old president of the Palestinian Football Association, who had asked to address the congress.
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But in the case of the stork, the bird saw the drone and outmaneuvered it.
Verb
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Don’t be fooled; this isn’t your typical museum.
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Don’t be fooled by its breezy ’60s-analog vintage pop sound.
Verb
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Liv Morgan begged for a tag, but she was outfoxed by a blind tag from Rhea Ripley.
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No doubt remained that I’d been outfoxed.
Verb
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In a rematch of the WNBA’s first-ever game from June 21, 1997, the Sparks overcame a 17-point Liberty lead, all while celebrating the inaugural matchup — and iconic alumni — that changed women’s sports forever.
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Leviatán were arguably considered underdogs in all these matches, but overcame the odds to make the final and set up a rematch against Paper Rex.
Cite this Entry
“Outsmarted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outsmarted. Accessed 27 Jun. 2026.
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