ruse
noun
a trick, stratagem, or artifice.
ruse
1 American
[rooz]
/ ruz /
noun
Ruse
2
American
[roo-sey]
/ ˈru seɪ /
noun
Ruse
1
British
/ ˈruːseɪ /
noun
ruse
2
British
/ ruːz /
noun
Synonym Usage
See trick.
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
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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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.
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
Swiatek will play American Danielle Collins or Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania in the last 32.
From BBC • May 8, 2025
He then capitalized on this, reinventing those familiar flavors at Ruse with a watermelon sorbet with lime curd and crunchy chocolate pearls.
From Salon • May 16, 2024
General Divvy called upon Editor Hacker to read the resolutions, which Mr. Hacker, having procured them from Mr. Ruse a moment before, at once proceeded to do.
From Tin-Types Taken in the Streets of New York A Series of Stories and Sketches Portraying Many Singular Phases of Metropolitan Life by Beard, Harry
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.
