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
-
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
-
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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"Dragon, Dragon"
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Black Swan Green
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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:
National-security hawks argued they had to be withheld to stifle China’s development of military weaponry and, perhaps one day, advanced AI systems that outfox humans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
No one has to suppress a shudder of fear when he enters the room or worry that this guy is going to somehow outfox them.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 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
But he raised the possibility for the first time that jail might be the only way to ensure Bankman-Fried won’t outfox the government with ways to use electronic devices in ways that can’t be tracked.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 16, 2023
The only way to outfox Hangman is to think one sentence ahead, and if you see a stammer-word coming up, alter your sentence so you won't need to use it.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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
But the rodent soon outfoxes the patient by employing a bit of orthodontia.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
In which a wise man from Philadelphia goes to Paris and outfoxes spies of two nations.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
While ill, they have to beg doctors to believe them and somehow assemble their own care team to try to help them live with a disease that has so far outfoxed the best minds worldwide.
From BBC ● Jun. 1, 2026
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
I pushed the first tape into the VCR and sat beside him, searching his warped face, listening to his soft whimpers, while on the screen Alice Kramden outfoxed her husband again and again.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
It screamed watershed moment, the forever luckless Clippers outfoxing the eternally exalted Lakers for the services of not one, but two superstars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2025
“Red foxes are colonizing the Arctic, and they’re outfoxing the Arctic foxes,” he says.
From Scientific American ● Jan. 25, 2023
But maybe he can keep outfoxing his own mind.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 3, 2019
Lee Casciaro's second-half goal did the damage, the Ministry of Defence police officer outfoxing Efe Ambrose to score.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2016
GMT14:51 19 mins: 19-year-old midfielder Danilo gives Busquets the eyes, before outfoxing him with a shimmy that delights the Mestalla.
From The Guardian ● Dec. 5, 2015
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
