as in to outwit
to get the better of through cleverness
the prisoners outfoxed the guards by tunneling beneath the prison walls
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of outfox
Japan, outfoxed by the stealthy maneuverer in the White House, had to recede.
—
Robert W. Merry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Mar. 2025
The governor’s better posture would be to concentrate on outmaneuvering and outfoxing Trump.
—David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
Situated in one of the game's smallest media markets, the Padres under General Manager A.J. Preller have spent lavishly and made a series of splashy acquisitions, but keep getting outfoxed by their upstate rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
—David Faris, theweek, 5 Sep. 2024
Here, Shyamalan has similar intentions: His movie would be nothing without Hartnett’s serial killer outfoxing his pursuers, slipping past one security barrier after another, stealing access badges willy-nilly and engineering his daughter’s onstage appearance with her idol.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 2 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for outfox
Robert W. Merry, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 7 Mar. 2025
The governor’s better posture would be to concentrate on outmaneuvering and outfoxing Trump.
—David Greising, Chicago Tribune, 31 Jan. 2025
Situated in one of the game's smallest media markets, the Padres under General Manager A.J. Preller have spent lavishly and made a series of splashy acquisitions, but keep getting outfoxed by their upstate rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
—David Faris, theweek, 5 Sep. 2024
Here, Shyamalan has similar intentions: His movie would be nothing without Hartnett’s serial killer outfoxing his pursuers, slipping past one security barrier after another, stealing access badges willy-nilly and engineering his daughter’s onstage appearance with her idol.
—Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 2 Aug. 2024
See All Example Sentences for outfox
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outfox
Verb
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My orchids can outwit other life forms, and so can my Venus flytrap (currently choking on a common house fly).—
Clarence Schmidt,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 July 2025
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There were corridos about the exploits of bandits and outlaws, some of them Robin Hood-esque characters who outwitted oafish authorities and helped the poor.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
11 May 2025
Verb
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But occasionally, a bear outsmarts us or overcomes our defenses.—
Emma Marsden,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 July 2025
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Live Oak plans to use Casca as the engine behind its effort to bring transparency and structure to a part of the market known more for speed and opacity than fairness, a move that mirrors its history of outsmarting bigger rivals.—
Brandon Kochkodin,
Forbes.com,
18 July 2025
Verb
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Thus, they are thwarted in their villainous intentions to use AGI and ASI to be criminal collaborators.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
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Sources, including a former director at CDC whose center oversaw MMWR, told MedPage that cuts to CDC funding and staff have likely thwarted the journal.—
Ashley Belanger,
ArsTechnica,
28 July 2025
Verb
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More than 20 children are in the custody of a Southern California child-welfare agency as authorities investigate allegations of child abuse and whether surrogate mothers were deceived by a Los Angeles-area couple.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
17 July 2025
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And then he was wishy-washy, went back and forth, and she was deceived and disappointed by him.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
15 July 2025
Verb
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But how will the Four defeat an almost godlike being, even with their impressive superpowers?—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
28 July 2025
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As a fighting force, Hezbollah, the most powerful of Tehran’s proxy forces since 1982, was defeated.—
David Remnick,
New Yorker,
28 July 2025
Verb
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The Austin district relied heavily on contractors to overcome its chronic backlog of evaluation requests.—
Keri Heath,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
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Thunderbolts showed us the true power of the group hug to overcome . . .—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
29 July 2025
Verb
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The speech also tackled an issue that has foxed previous governments: reforming the House of Lords.—
Jill Lawless,
The Christian Science Monitor,
17 July 2024
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Raccoon: Raccoon is very similar to fox but rarely comes in any other colors besides that of a typical raccoon which is naturally ombré.—
Liana Satenstein,
Marie Claire,
13 Feb. 2014
Cite this Entry
“Outfox.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outfox. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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