subterfuge
/ˈsʌbtəɹˌfjuː(d)ʒ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.69 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
10
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An indirect or deceptive device or stratagem; a blind. Refers especially to war and diplomatics.
Countable
Example Sentences
- "Overt subterfuge in a region nearly caused a minor accident."
- "How’s the spy hunt going? Uncovered any subterfuge?"
- "But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea."
- "But in the mean time […] it looks all ſo like ſubterfuge and inveagling; it is ſo nauſeating and teadious a task, that no man thinks he ovvs the Author ſo much ſervice as to find out the reaſon of his ovvn Categoricalneſs for him."
- "I have been critical of the RDG in the past for merely being a cypher for government announcements, but the failure of its members to make a stand on this issue and not be complicit in the Government's subterfuge is a shocking indictment of their failure to protect the industry."
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French subterfuge m, from Medieval Latin subterfugium n, from Latin subterfugiō (“to flee secretly”), from subter (“under”) and fugiō (“to flee”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰewg-, subterfuge, subterfugium, subterfugiō
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Military.