1
as in ruse
a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end
asking me to take her shopping turned out to be a ploy to get me to the surprise party
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2
as in spree
a time or instance of carefree fun
wanted one grand ploy through Europe before settling down and raising a family
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of ploy
What began as a matter of necessity, a desperate ploy to get a writer paid quickly, soon became Meredith’s standard operating procedure.
—
Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
Senior pitcher/second baseman Ellie Peck, a Lewis recruit who reached base three times and scored three runs, confirmed that Kuefler’s motivational ploy seems to be working.
—Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
Desmond called the ballot measure merely a ploy to extend term limits for supervisors, likening the rest of the package to an effort to feed a pet medicine by hiding it in a snack.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026
The ploy provoked personal blowback, including allegations of domestic abuse, which Magyar denied.
—Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ploy
Literary Hub, 28 Apr. 2026
Senior pitcher/second baseman Ellie Peck, a Lewis recruit who reached base three times and scored three runs, confirmed that Kuefler’s motivational ploy seems to be working.
—Rick Armstrong, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
Desmond called the ballot measure merely a ploy to extend term limits for supervisors, likening the rest of the package to an effort to feed a pet medicine by hiding it in a snack.
—Lucas Robinson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026
The ploy provoked personal blowback, including allegations of domestic abuse, which Magyar denied.
—Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for ploy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ploy
Noun
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They are accused of using several ruses to force their way into people’s homes, assaulting unsuspecting residents and holding them hostage for their own money, and demanding access to their crypto accounts.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
14 May 2026
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To sustain her ruse, Suzanne discovers volumes of diaries written by the painter’s late wife.—
Ben Croll,
IndieWire,
12 May 2026
Noun
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Aside from his political rivals, the posting spree also included a series of posts directed at Iran.—
Siladitya Ray,
Forbes.com,
18 May 2026
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Cristian Fajardo Mondragon, 17, was taken into custody Sunday after allegedly partaking in a citywide shooting spree that left four people injured, struck two fire stations and triggered a shelter-in-place order in South Austin, the Austin Police Department said in a statement.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
18 May 2026
Noun
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Scott said Williamson never spoke directly with Becerra about the scheme.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
15 May 2026
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Quantum threats target the mathematical structure of encryption schemes like RSA and ECC; vaulted tokenization removes that target by decoupling data from its representation.—
Ed Leavens,
Forbes.com,
15 May 2026
Noun
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Winston makes a cameo to execute another electric Ford Field trick play, and the Giants lose a close one with their offense starting to find a new gear.—
Pat Leonard,
New York Daily News,
15 May 2026
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Sophisticated as chatbots’ responses may be, they are stitched together from statistical patterns in large datasets—an impressive trick but one that still falls short of the breadth and reliability in human-level clinical reasoning.—
Cody Cottier,
Scientific American,
15 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Ploy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ploy. Accessed 20 May. 2026.
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