1
as in ruse
a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end
her husband used every trick in the book to get out of appearing in his parish's fashion show
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2
as in prank
a playful or mischievous act intended as a joke
thought that gluing the silver dollar to the floor and watching him struggle to pick it up would be a good trick
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3
as in ritual
a usual manner of behaving or doing
that deadbeat is up to his usual tricks: once again he's claiming the check is in the mail
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4
as in feat
an act of notable skill, strength, or cleverness
it'd be quite a trick to hit that target from here
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5
as in trait
an odd or peculiar habit
a dog with the trick of eating cabbage
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to deceive
to cause to believe what is untrue
you tricked me into thinking my ex wasn't coming to the party tonight
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in tricky
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
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Recent Examples of trick
Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2026
That has been a new trick for the Chicago Bulls this season.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 29 Dec. 2025
Kids can trick-or-treat at Calico Ghost Town shops and businesses before the sun falls and ghouls fill the park.
—Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 29 Dec. 2025
Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 28 Oct. 2021
And arguably, given the variety of cask types used by the distillery, Angel’s Envy is actually a multi-trick pony.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 11 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for trick
Noun
María Zardoya played her debut show under her solo project Not For Radio with a few tricks up her sleeve.
—Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 7 Jan. 2026
That has been a new trick for the Chicago Bulls this season.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
Verb
Accountancy has seen several cheating scandals in recent years, with the Big Four firms hit with multimillion-dollar fines after staff tricked internal exams, but the sector is far from alone.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 29 Dec. 2025
Kids can trick-or-treat at Calico Ghost Town shops and businesses before the sun falls and ghouls fill the park.
—Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 29 Dec. 2025
Adjective
If the high cost of it all is more trick than treat for you, here are several ways to turn your already smart home into a spook-tacularly genius haunted house.
—Jennifer Jolly, USA TODAY, 28 Oct. 2021
And arguably, given the variety of cask types used by the distillery, Angel’s Envy is actually a multi-trick pony.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 11 June 2021
See All Example Sentences for trick
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trick
Noun
-
The New York Colored American reported that some offers of short-term work for Black men — moving livestock to or from Kentucky, for example — were ruses that ended with kidnappings.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
Odysseus, the Ithacan warrior who is as celebrated for craftiness as Achilles is for brute strength, devises a clever ruse in which the Greeks place a giant wooden horse outside Troy’s walls and pretend to sail away.—
Elizabeth D. Samet,
Foreign Affairs,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
People submit clips of themselves performing the prank, the original poster selects a winner, and the award is distributed in Solana tokens.—
PC Magazine,
PC Magazine,
4 Nov. 2025
-
According to a 2015 Time Magazine story, the tradition of benign pranks began sometime in the 1930s and 1940s in the United States, brought on perhaps as a way to defuse the tensions of economic devastation and the pain of war.—
Phaedra Trethan,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Mount Hora may have been a natural monument, memorial or place where people returned to share cultural rituals — even generations after the cremation, Sawchuk said.—
Ashley Strickland,
CNN Money,
6 Jan. 2026
-
Michelle Buteau doesn’t believe in perfect mornings, spotless sweatpants, or rigid holiday rituals.—
Leslie D. Rose,
Parents,
6 Jan. 2026
Noun
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But the feat came at a painful price, both physically and financially.—
Juli McDonald,
CBS News,
9 Jan. 2026
-
The feat was achieved by radiochemistry experts at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) recently.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
By examining liver cells as the disease progressed, researchers saw that healthy liver functions slowly shut down and survival traits took over.—
Deirdre Bardolf,
FOXNews.com,
7 Jan. 2026
-
The Louisville transfer features the size (6-6, 325), length and explosive traits NFL defensive coordinators covet and QBs usually lose sleep over.—
Eddie Brown,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
To keep the most vulnerable safe, Ivan has to decide to confront the soldiers or deceive them at the potential cost of his life.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
6 Jan. 2026
-
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
Adjective
-
Navigating a party exit can feel tricky, especially now as holiday parties and seasonal gatherings are in full swing.—
Elizabeth Fogarty,
Better Homes & Gardens,
6 Nov. 2025
-
That could make representation tricky for the candidate who wins.—
Barnini Chakraborty,
The Washington Examiner,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Cherki is a dying breed of player, particularly now he’s been transferred to a Premier League which has moved away from off-the-cuff dribblers and towards set-play schemes.—
Jordan Campbell,
New York Times,
8 Nov. 2025
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Another worker operates the machine’s main controller, using a programming scheme for 3D printers called G-code to tell the printer what to build and how to build it.—
Jake Goodrick,
Sacbee.com,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Trick.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trick. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
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