as in deception
the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end
propagandists who use a kind of photographic subterfuge, superimposing one image on another to create a false "reality"
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of subterfuge
To the relief of everybody, weeks of rumors/subterfuge/smokescreens/innuendo come to a merciful end.
—
Jim Reineking, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
Courts throughout the country have repeatedly seen through this subterfuge.
—Daniel Wallach, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Other times, the responsible parties engage in active subterfuge.
—Sarah Stillman, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
His delivery of Mantel’s dialogue—modern, intelligent, bristling with implication and subterfuge—is mesmerizingly clear.
—Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subterfuge
Jim Reineking, USA Today, 25 Apr. 2025
Courts throughout the country have repeatedly seen through this subterfuge.
—Daniel Wallach, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2025
Other times, the responsible parties engage in active subterfuge.
—Sarah Stillman, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
His delivery of Mantel’s dialogue—modern, intelligent, bristling with implication and subterfuge—is mesmerizingly clear.
—Taylor Antrim, Vogue, 20 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subterfuge
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subterfuge
Noun
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As an escaped convict posing as a beloved preacher, and as his gentle, upright twin, Robeson embodies a devastating split between appearance and truth, and whose uncanny doubling plays out in a community shaped by racial violence, spiritual deception, and economic precarity.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
21 May 2025
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Ellie, however, cannot abide Joel’s deception, and interrupts to tell the truth to Gail, who then slaps Joel and tells him to leave.—
Adam B. Vary,
Variety,
19 May 2025
Noun
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Press play below to learn more about Wells’ treachery, and to get a sneak peek at the fugitive interacting with her latest target.—
Matt Webb Mitovich,
TVLine,
7 Apr. 2025
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Sinners is one of the great vampire movies of the modern age, mining the legend of these perpetual outsiders who desperately yearn to belong, but whose silky promises are rooted in treachery.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Plus, the live-action shots and remarkable CGI trickery in bringing the Lupo creature to life are seamlessly integrated.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
17 May 2025
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After Susy died suddenly in 1896, Twain wrote an essay, quoted at length by Chernow, about the sick trickery of the Almighty.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
9 May 2025
Noun
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While shocking nonprofit chicanery has found itself in the media spotlight, the story of one West Texas charity deserves to be told and to inspire.—
Jack Fowler,
National Review,
7 Apr. 2025
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The more processes and services a security tool contains, the more opportunities for such chicanery.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
4 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Contract disputes, regulatory delays and political gamesmanship have choked off investment in transmission and generation.—
Dan Eberhart,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
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Or maybe — just maybe — there’s some gamesmanship at play.—
Kristian Winfield,
New York Daily News,
10 Apr. 2025
Noun
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This year the skulduggery began early and has been raging for week.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2025
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Obviously, such a system is rife with uncertainty, and the history of the process is full of skulduggery, both on the club and player side.—
Tony Blengino,
Forbes,
13 Jan. 2025
Noun
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This can be examined from the perspective of both production methods and content and aesthetic discussions: underground cinema is produced without the approval of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, often filmed in secrecy and distributed through foreign festivals or the internet.—
Ali Farahmand,
IndieWire,
23 May 2025
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It was put together with staggering speed to maintain secrecy.—
Caroline Reid,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2025
Noun
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Neither his fearsome resolve nor his supreme cunning—which had enabled him to vanquish his rivals and spiritually crush his inner circle—was in evidence in 1941.—
Stephen Kotkin,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Sep. 2017
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Despite being outnumbered 50-to-1 by the Five Families of the Italian mafia, the Westies’ legendary brutality and cunning have given them the leverage necessary to share the spoils through a fragile détente.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
18 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Subterfuge.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subterfuge. Accessed 28 May. 2025.
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