Need another word that means the same as “subterfuge”? Find 41 synonyms and 30 related words for “subterfuge” in this overview.
The synonyms of “Subterfuge” are: blind, trickery, intrigue, deviousness, evasion, deceit, deception, dishonesty, cheating, duplicity, guile, cunning, craft, craftiness, slyness, chicanery, bluff, pretence, fraud, fraudulence, sophistry, sharp practice, trick, hoax, ruse, wile, ploy, stratagem, artifice, dodge, manoeuvre, machination, pretext, expedient, tactic, scheme, masquerade, smokescreen, sleight, stunt, game
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “subterfuge” as a noun can have the following definitions:
artifice | Clever or cunning devices or expedients, especially as used to trick or deceive others. An industry dominated by artifice. |
blind | A hiding place sometimes used by hunters (especially duck hunters. He waited impatiently in the blind. |
bluff | The act of bluffing in poker deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards. His game of bluff. |
cheating | A deception for profit to yourself. |
chicanery | The use of deception or subterfuge to achieve one’s purpose. Storylines packed with political chicanery. |
craft | An aircraft or spaceship. He represented the craft of brewers. |
craftiness | The quality of being crafty. |
cunning | Skill in achieving one’s ends by deceit. What resources of energy and cunning it took just to survive. |
deceit | The action or practice of deceiving someone by concealing or misrepresenting the truth. Hypocrisy and deceit were anathema to her. |
deception | A thing that deceives. Obtaining property by deception. |
deviousness | The quality of being oblique and rambling indirectly. |
dishonesty | Deceitfulness shown in someone’s character or behaviour. The dismissal of thirty civil servants for dishonesty and misconduct. |
dodge | The dodging of a bell in change-ringing. The grant system s widespread use as a tax dodge. |
duplicity | A fraudulent or duplicitous representation. The president was accused of duplicity in his dealings with Congress. |
evasion | Nonperformance of something distasteful (as by deceit or trickery) that you are supposed to do. His evasion of his clear duty was reprehensible. |
expedient | A means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one. The current policy is a political expedient. |
fraud | Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage. Mediums exposed as tricksters and frauds. |
fraudulence | The quality of being fraudulent. |
game | The game equipment needed in order to play a particular game. For actors memorizing lines is no game. |
guile | The quality of being crafty. He used all his guile and guts to free himself from the muddle he was in. |
hoax | Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage. A hoax 999 call. |
intrigue | The secret planning of something illicit or detrimental. The cabinet was a nest of intrigue. |
machination | A plot or scheme. |
manoeuvre | A move made to gain a tactical end. Shady financial manoeuvres. |
masquerade | A costume worn as a disguise at a masquerade party. Dressing up role playing and masquerade. |
ploy | A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one’s own advantage. The eternal cross stitch I was set to do before I could indulge my own ploys. |
pretence | A false or unsupportable quality. They have always avoided preciousness and pretence. |
pretext | Something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason. The rebels had the perfect pretext for making their move. |
ruse | An action intended to deceive someone; a trick. Emma tried to think of a ruse to get Paul out of the house. |
scheme | A particular ordered system or arrangement. The occupational sick pay scheme. |
sharp practice | A long thin sewing needle with a sharp point. |
sleight | The use of dexterity or cunning, especially so as to deceive. Except by sleight of logic the two positions cannot be harmonized. |
slyness | Shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception. |
smokescreen | An action intended to conceal or confuse or obscure. He tried to create a smokescreen by quibbling about the statistics. |
sophistry | A fallacious argument. Trying to argue that I had benefited in any way from the disaster was pure sophistry. |
stratagem | Skill in devising plans or schemes; cunning. A series of devious stratagems. |
stunt | A creature (especially a whale) that has been prevented from attaining full growth. |
tactic | An action or strategy carefully planned to achieve a specific end. These are possible tax saving tactics to discuss with your accountant. |
trick | A prostitute’s customer. She thought Elaine was playing some trick on her. |
trickery | The practice of deception. The dealer resorted to trickery. |
wile | The use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them. The devious wiles of the politicians. |
baloney | Pretentious or silly talk or writing. I don t buy it it s all a load of baloney. |
betray | Treacherously reveal (information. She drew a deep breath that betrayed her indignation. |
cheat | An act of cheating a fraud or deception. She cheats on her husband. |
cheating | Violating accepted standards or rules. |
chicanery | The use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them. Storylines packed with political chicanery. |
cozen | Trick or deceive. He cozened the money out of the old man. |
deceit | The act of deceiving. Hypocrisy and deceit were anathema to her. |
deceive | Deliberately cause (someone) to believe something that is not true, especially for personal gain. I didn t intend to deceive people into thinking it was French champagne. |
deception | A misleading falsehood. Obtaining property by deception. |
deceptive | Giving an appearance or impression different from the true one; misleading. Deliberately deceptive packaging. |
defraud | Deprive of by deceit. He used a second identity to defraud the bank of thousands of pounds. |
delude | Make (someone) believe something that is not true. Too many theorists have deluded the public. |
dissimulation | Concealment of one’s thoughts, feelings, or character; pretence. His audience consisted of a dissimulation of birds. |
feint | Make a deceptive or distracting movement, especially during a fight. You would would you said Bob feinting punches back at them. |
fraud | A person or thing intended to deceive others, typically by unjustifiably claiming or being credited with accomplishments or qualities. Mediums exposed as tricksters and frauds. |
fraudulence | Something intended to deceive; deliberate trickery intended to gain an advantage. |
fraudulent | Intended to deceive. A fraudulent scheme to escape paying taxes. |
hoodwink | Deceive or trick. Staff were hoodwinked into thinking the cucumber was a sawn off shotgun. |
humbug | A hypocrite. Poor Dave is easily humbugged. |
insider | An officer of a corporation or others who have access to private information about the corporation’s operations. Political insiders. |
liar | A person who tells lies. The man was a notorious liar. |
lie | The way direction or position in which something lies. The abbey lies in ruins today. |
manipulation | The action of manipulating someone in a clever or unscrupulous way. There was no deliberate manipulation of visitors emotions. |
perfidious | Tending to betray; especially having a treacherous character as attributed to the Carthaginians by the Romans. The perfidious Judas. |
perfidy | An act of deliberate betrayal. Hapsburg perfidy. |
phony | A person who professes beliefs and opinions that he or she does not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives. |
scam | Deprive of by deceit. An insurance scam. |
swindle | Use deception to deprive (someone) of money or possessions. He is mixed up in a 10 million insurance swindle. |
treacherous | Tending to betray especially having a treacherous character as attributed to the Carthaginians by the Romans. A treacherous Gestapo agent. |
trickery | Verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way. The dealer resorted to trickery. |
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