outfox
Americanverb (used with object)
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outfoxes,
present (3rd person singular)
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outfoxed,
past participle, past
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outfoxing
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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outfoxsimple
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outfoxessimple
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have outfoxedperfect
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has outfoxedperfect
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am outfoxingprogressive
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are outfoxingprogressive
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is outfoxingprogressive
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have been outfoxingperfect progressive
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has been outfoxingperfect progressive
Past
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outfoxedsimple
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had outfoxedperfect
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was outfoxingprogressive
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were outfoxingprogressive
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had been outfoxingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outfox
Explanation
To outfox someone is to defeat them at something using quick thinking or sneaky tricks. Some of the most popular fictional detectives cleverly outfox their foes. You can attempt to outfox your opponent at poker using tricky strategies and bluffs. A political candidate can also try to outfox a rival, either through smart debate tactics or sneakier, more underhanded means. Outfox has been used in this way since the 1930s, from the old-fashioned verb fox, "to delude or deceive," which stems from the idea (popular in folklore) of foxes being wily or tricky.
Vocabulary lists containing outfox
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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:
The Na’vi strategy—Viet Cong-like—is to outfox them with their low-tech, nature-friendly, home-field-advantage energy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 17, 2025
Earlier, world number 86 Maria used her slice-heavy style of play to outfox 11th-ranked Rybakina.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2025
China has also added more road- and rail-mobile missile launchers to try to outfox American satellites and other detection technology.
From New York Times ● Feb. 4, 2024
Can Lue show he can again outfox opposing coaches with his lineup choices and in-game adjustments?
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2023
It was impossible to outfox her at this game.
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
Krychowiak’s dummy outfoxes Emre Can before he slips a pass to Gibbs, whose low cross catches Van Dijk out, the defender preoccupied by Robson-Kanu.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 27, 2018
Murray wasn’t best pleased at the time taken to appeal but he outfoxes Tomic with a drop shot for 30-0 anyway.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2015
Much of Meany's consistent success is due to his own stubborn endurance; he outplots, outfoxes and above all outlasts his opponents.
From Time Magazine Archive
But the rodent soon outfoxes the patient by employing a bit of orthodontia.
From Time Magazine Archive
In which a wise man from Philadelphia goes to Paris and outfoxes spies of two nations.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Following a $1-billion-grossing, Oscar-winning smash could have left writer and director Jared Bush and director Byron Howard feeling like rabbits in the headlights, but they seem to have outfoxed the challenge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
Look what he accomplished; look how he outfoxed and defeated every opponent.
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2025
So was my father’s, a sly teacher of life lessons to the end, who outfoxed me one final time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2025
She is outfoxed by a swinging delivery outside off that drifts away and catches the outside edge - but a diving wicketkeeper Muneeba Ali puts it down one-handed.
From BBC ● May 18, 2024
Fern knew when she was being outfoxed and wouldn’t stand for it.
From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia
Occasionally BBC Russian succeeded in outfoxing the jammers.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2026
“Red foxes are colonizing the Arctic, and they’re outfoxing the Arctic foxes,” he says.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 25, 2023
Seven years ago, a young Curry, Thompson and Green took an important step toward their first title by outfoxing a physical and veteran Memphis team led by Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph.
From Washington Post ● May 1, 2022
Instead, Sen. Nancy Skinner had to file Senate Bill 206 five years later, outfoxing higher education leaders everywhere, not just Emmert, their whipping boy.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2022
Coach Danny Bergara tried swapping players’ numbers in a tactical move, outfoxing only himself.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 16, 2017
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.
