TRICKS Synonyms: 247 Similar and Opposite Words

tricks 1 of 2

noun

plural of trick

as in ruses

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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as in pranks

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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as in rituals

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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as in feats

an act of notable skill, strength, or cleverness it'd be quite a trick to hit that target from here

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as in traits

an odd or peculiar habit a dog with the trick of eating cabbage

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

conformities

tricks

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of trick

as in fools

to cause to believe what is untrue you tricked me into thinking my ex wasn't coming to the party tonight

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of tricks

Noun

Some of his bar inventions, for instance, were less grand thematic ideas and simply tricks to keep patrons indoors and ordering. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2026 Treister had a smart sense of humor, often performing magic tricks for anyone who would come over to his home, his family said. — Lauren Costantino, Miami Herald, 29 Aug. 2026 Playwright Holloway has all sorts of tricks up his many sleeves, turning misdirection (visual, narrative, aural or otherwise) into a symphony of look-here! — Greg Evans, Deadline, 29 Aug. 2026 This recipe has a few sneaky tricks that Grandma loves to keep secret. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 29 Aug. 2026 Layered background sighs, a resonant lead vocal, autumnal acoustic guitar flickers, synths both eerie and trippy—James has all his tricks on tap. — Ryan Leas, Pitchfork, 28 Aug. 2026 My son raved about a show of card tricks performed by an Australian magician named James Galea (the fact that he was selected to participate in one helped). — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Aug. 2026 And while other robot pets have come and gone, AI data science company Hugging Face says that their Microduck is capable of learning new tricks. — Mack Degeurin, Popular Science, 27 Aug. 2026 Document Scan put its AI tricks to use, and voila, the scan is mostly smooth, save for one crinkle in the middle. — Kimberly Gedeon, PC Magazine, 27 Aug. 2026

Verb

Short crown layers build lift and help create volume, which tricks the eye into seeing more density overall, and face-framing pieces create visual fullness around the face. — Marci Robin, Allure, 11 Aug. 2026 Lord Ormund’s Gambit Lord Ormund has many, many tricks up his green sleeves. — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026 In effect, RedHook tricks the phone into connecting to its own powerful debugging controls, giving the malware deeper access without a computer. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 20 July 2026 Exterior walls, similarly, may be warmer than an interior wall, which tricks the thermostat and causes the AC to run longer than necessary. — Timothy Dale, The Spruce, 15 July 2026 Cthulhu, who tricks the Minions into releasing his friends from purgatory. — Damon Wise, Deadline, 29 June 2026 Removing fading flowers and their seed pods tricks the plant to redirect its energy from producing seeds to producing more scapes and flower buds, as well as putting energy into root development and storing energy for the next growing season. — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 3 June 2026 Well, at least Cindy's been fighting the good fight, which Brenda tricks her into waging alone every time. — Entertainment Weekly, 2 June 2026 One possible danger is a rogue network that tricks people into joining. — ABC News, 22 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tricks

Noun

There’s a delightful secret history of Hollywood directors whose ruses and stratagems bought them an unusual amount of leeway with their scripts.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2026
Even before pro-party AI ruses were possible, the Chinese government and its supporters flooded social media with pro-China propaganda and vicious attacks on critics.

— Michael Schuman, The Atlantic, 7 July 2026

Definition of ruses

Noun

And on social media, videos show a range of other unwanted recordings, from relatively inoffensive pranks to more harmful videos featuring bullying or harassment.

— Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2026
Alves, who is known online for her day-in-the-life content as well as making videos documenting humorous pranks, had nearly 60,000 followers on Instagram.

— Tabitha Parent, PEOPLE, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of pranks

Noun

This goes beyond just topical products to include massage tools, wellness rituals and detoxifying treatments.

— Bella Webb, Vogue, 28 Aug. 2026
Shankara advises that worshipping gods with names and stories through devotional rituals and sacred images (murtis) is an acceptable step for some people on the path toward a more philosophical understanding of an all-pervasive ultimate reality.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of rituals

Noun

Why would Chinese companies invest so much money and time into creating robots that perform such athletic feats (and crash and burn afterwards)?

— Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 1 Sep. 2026
The scholar of religion Friedrich Max Müller (1823–1900) noticed that many Vedic hymns praise different deities using the same superlatives and ascribe to them the same mythological feats.

— Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of feats

Noun

The article notes the overlap between emotional intelligence and psychopathy; while EQ is lauded, psychopathic traits can surprisingly predict career success due to charm and appearing calm under pressure.

— Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Craig was extremely productive at Harvard and has NFL-caliber traits with his size, mobility and throw power.

— Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of traits

Noun

Instead, Cramer pointed to Cook's ability to sustain the iPhone's appeal and keep consumers coming back through successive generations of premium devices.

— Alexa LoMonaco, CNBC, 31 Aug. 2026
Infecting already compromised devices Research published Monday brings the threat into much clearer view.

— Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 31 Aug. 2026

Definition of devices

Noun

Panel also impressed by NASA’s leadership Toward the end of the safety panel’s meeting on Monday, a few members made some striking comments about their experiences working with NASA this year.

— Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 1 Sep. 2026
The VICs are also invited to the Paris presentations, which are full-day experiences featuring canapés, cocktails and cookies inside major cultural institutions.

— Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 1 Sep. 2026