stratagem
Americannoun
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a plan, scheme, or trick for surprising or deceiving an enemy.
-
any artifice, ruse, or trick devised or used to attain a goal or to gain an advantage over an adversary or competitor.
business stratagems.
- Synonyms:
- contrivance, maneuver, device, intrigue, deception
noun
Synonym Usage
See trick.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of stratagem
1480–90; (< Middle French stratageme ) < Italian stratagemma war ruse < Latin stratēgēma < Greek stratḗgēma instance of generalship, derivative of stratēgeîn to be in command, derivative of stratēgós military commander ( see strategy)
Explanation
A stratagem is a scheme or a clever plot. You can have a stratagem for winning a chess game, getting the girl (or boy), and avoiding a punishment. However, your opponents, crushes, and parents may have a trick or two of their own. Sometimes a stratagem is a gem of an idea, really clever and worth trying. Great generals start a battle plan with a stratagem, and businesses might have a stratagem for making more money. A stratagem is often a trick or a way to deceive an enemy or get something through a plot or ploy, but it can also mean just a great idea that outwits someone. Your teacher probably has a stratagem for helping you remember and spell words.
Vocabulary lists containing stratagem
Grade 9, List 3
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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The Hobbit
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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.
We’ll know more about whether the stratagem accomplished anything when the preliminary injunction case goes to a hearing in December.
From Reuters • Oct. 20, 2022
This last extraordinary stratagem leads to months in which Jones, maniacally insisting that he has become a Turk, scribbles anti-British treatises, while an almost robotic Hill spends all his time fasting and reading the Bible.
From Washington Post • Jun. 15, 2021
After a few frantic hours, the stratagem worked, and the migrants were picked up and taken to Sicily.
From New York Times • Sep. 23, 2020
This is a familiar stratagem aimed at making it uneconomic to bring so-called tort lawsuits.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 29, 2020
“No,” she agrees, and for this moment at least we are cronies, this could be a kitchen table, it could be a date we’re discussing, some girlish stratagem of ploys and flirtation.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
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.
