ruse
noun
a trick, stratagem, or artifice.
ruse
1 American
[rooz]
/ ruz /
noun
-
ruses
plural
Ruse
2
American
[roo-say]
/ 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:
“This is an elaborate, well thought-out ruse which totally jammed my radar,” Taylor wrote, noting the caller’s attention to detail, including “real cop-speak.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
Like any cheap knock-off, with Vance the ruse becomes clear at even a cursory examination.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
And am I correct that this particular passage really exposes the ruse?
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2026
Thaksin was jailed last September, after the Supreme Court ruled that the six months he spent in a police hospital after his return to Thailand had been a ruse to avoid serving his sentence.
From BBC ● May 10, 2026
With any luck, the centaur hadn’t run a seismology test on the manor grounds, or his ruse might be discovered.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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
Reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys plays second on the court as the American faces Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2025
World number one Aryna Sabalenka moved into the Miami Open last 16 after opponent Elena-Gabriela Ruse retired injured, while there were wins for Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2025
Correll says that the first flavors added to the Ruse menu were labneh soft serve with pomegranate molasses and sesame brittle, followed by a matcha green tea with raspberry sauce and toasted milk crumble.
From Salon ● May 16, 2024
In this emergency he had produced the Hon. Perfidius Ruse.
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
Jury duty is among many ruses tricksters use.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 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
And while he called the debate over interrogation methods a “complex question,” he said he remains convinced “that there’s a point in time to use ruses in interrogation techniques.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 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.
