ruse
noun
a trick, stratagem, or artifice.
ruse
1 American
[rooz]
/ ruz /
noun
-
ruses
plural
Ruse
2
American
[roo-sey]
/ ˈru seɪ /
noun
Ruse
1
British
/ ˈruːseɪ /
noun
ruse
2
British
/ ruːz /
noun
Synonym Usage
See trick.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ruse
1375–1425; late Middle English (noun use of obsolete rusen to detour) < Middle French, derivative of ruser to retreat. See rush 1
Explanation
Movie bank robbers always seem to pull some kind of ruse, a deceptive trick or tactic like hiding the money underneath the bank while they drive off in the getaway car to avoid capture by the police. You'd use a ruse if you were up to something sneaky and were trying to get away with it without being discovered. The wife planning a surprise birthday party for her husband could send him out to the supermarket as a ruse, a trick so she could sneak one hundred of his closest friends into the house without him noticing.
Vocabulary lists containing ruse
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The Diary of a Young Girl
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The Hunger Games
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Like any cheap knock-off, with Vance the ruse becomes clear at even a cursory examination.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
The ruse worked, but she regrets having to resort to such lengths.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
US media and devoted fans have acknowledged that the permit, hotels and apparent preparation could still be part of an elaborate ruse, a decoy event so Swift and Kelce have privacy during their actual wedding.
From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026
And am I correct that this particular passage really exposes the ruse?
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2026
Reason told me I could not keep up my ruse of madness for long.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Boulter, 29, went down 7-6 7-6 on clay to world number 87 Ruse, who will now face Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska or American Ann Li in the last 16.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2026
British number one Emma Raducanu continued her fine form in North America with a routine win against Elena-Gabriela Ruse at the Canadian Open.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
After exchanging a couple of breaks in the second set, Raducanu - who also beat Ruse in Auckland in 2024 - found the crucial break to lead 5-4 and served out for the match.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2025
For instance, at Ruse in St. Michael, MD, executive chef Michael Correll is serving Matcha green tea soft serve with Oreo crumbs and raspberry.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
He did not fail to appreciate the modesty that led Mr. Ruse to undervalue his magnificent services to the city.
From Tin-Types Taken in the Streets of New York A Series of Stories and Sketches Portraying Many Singular Phases of Metropolitan Life by Harry Beard
Skipton’s devious ruses and desperate escapades prove diverting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026
The specific issue with the windbreakers was that ICE agents were engaging in various ruses to get people to open the door.
From Slate ● Jul. 3, 2025
He’d devised elaborate ruses to gather evidence of militias’ ties to high-ranking law enforcement officials.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
It was a military intervention unacknowledged by Moscow, shrouded in a fog of ruses and denials so improbable that few were deceived.
From New York Times ● Feb. 23, 2024
Others, clinging still to that brief glimpse of post-Civil War freedom, employed a thousand ruses and stratagems of struggle to win their rights.
From "Native Son" by Richard Wright
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
