subterfuge
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of subterfuge
1565–75; < Late Latin subterfugium, equivalent to Latin subterfug ( ere ) to evade ( subter below + fugere to flee) + -ium -ium
Explanation
If you want to surprise your mom with a sweatshirt, but don't know her size, it might take an act of subterfuge, like going through her closet, to find it out. Subterfuge is the use of tricky actions to hide or get something. It's pronounced "SUB-ter-fyooj." As a countable noun, a subterfuge is a tricky action or device: She employed a very clever subterfuge to get the information she needed. Subterfuge is derived from the Old French suterfuge, which is ultimately from the Latin subterfugere, "to escape," from subter, "secretly, under" plus fugere, "to flee."
Vocabulary lists containing subterfuge
The Great Gatsby
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A Web of Lies
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Richard Nixon's "Checkers" Speech (1952)
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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.
She’s engaging in a piece of phantasmagoric performance art with two raging megalomaniacs, suspecting humanity buried beneath their easygoing subterfuge.
From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026
This abstraction turned to subterfuge in the challengers’ briefing before the Supreme Court last month.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
It’s possible more and more voters see through the prejudiced subterfuge, but it’s more likely that folks simply need a change.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2026
The cyber teams also found proof of digital subterfuge aboard the ships.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
“It shall not be long,” said he, “before they discover our subterfuge and send riders after us.”
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
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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.
