subterfuge
[suhb-ter-fyooj]
- an artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc.
Origin of subterfuge
1565–75; < Late Latin subterfugium, equivalent to Latin subterfug(ere) to evade (subter below + fugere to flee) + -ium -ium
Synonyms
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.comdeception, scheme, trick, dodge, ruse.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for subterfuge
Contemporary Examples
The websites, subterfuge, and paid surrogates cost them money.
Delving into why this slaughter never happened uncovers a story of spy-craft, subterfuge and tightly-kept secrets.
The witnesses were used in the worst possible way, as a sort of subterfuge to play on emotions.
Fitzpatrick came to Boston well suited to deal with subterfuge and corruption.
A book that will remain relevant as long as governments use ludicrous forms of subterfuge to disguise deviant behavior.
Historical Examples
There is not a subterfuge or an evasion or a small mean deceit in her soul.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
There might be no subterfuge in answer to words so earnest, and Mr. Galloway did not attempt any.
The ChanningsMrs. Henry Wood
She had never been hard upon female trickery and subterfuge.
The First ViolinJessie Fothergill
Do you descend, sir, to a subterfuge, when I ask you for an explanation?
We must procure the key from the prelate by some subterfuge.
Chit-Chat; Nirvana; The SearchlightMathew Joseph Holt
subterfuge
- a stratagem employed to conceal something, evade an argument, etc
Word Origin
C16: from Late Latin subterfugium, from Latin subterfugere to escape by stealth, from subter secretly + fugere to flee
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for subterfuge
n.
1570s, from Middle French subterfuge, from Late Latin subterfugium "an evasion," from Latin subterfugere "to evade, escape, flee by stealth," from subter "beneath, secretly" + fugere "flee" (see fugitive).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper