as in deception
the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end
Delia resorted to trickery—even loading up the fishing equipment—to induce her dog into the car for his vet appointment
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Recent Examples of trickery
But those movies, in different ways, were about trickery and deceit, about drawing the audience into a head game of perception.
—
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 May 2026
Obviously, the city knew that people would see through its trickery.
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026
Now, there is a little bit of trickery being employed here.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 16 Apr. 2026
The sets and cinematic trickery of the scenes between regular-size humans and their 6-in.
—Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for trickery
Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 May 2026
Obviously, the city knew that people would see through its trickery.
—U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Apr. 2026
Now, there is a little bit of trickery being employed here.
—Alan Bradley, Space.com, 16 Apr. 2026
The sets and cinematic trickery of the scenes between regular-size humans and their 6-in.
—Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 10 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for trickery
Recent Examples of Synonyms for trickery
Noun
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But the dramatic vision-boosting reputation carrots have carried for decades traces back to a wartime deception, not science.—
Samantha Agate,
Sacbee.com,
15 June 2026
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The deception group reported the steepest drop in symptoms.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
13 June 2026
Noun
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There is a long history of subterfuge at World Cups — a long history of sharing injury information that isn’t exactly transparent or even accurate.—
Henry Bushnell,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
-
If the Allies had had to postpone the invasion for the next moon-tide alignment later in the month, the subterfuge would have been exposed.—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
29 May 2026
Noun
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Peacock’s adventures in treachery The Traitors was the top dog, scoring five prizes including Best Competition Series and Best Host for Alan Cumming.—
Erik Pedersen,
Deadline,
3 June 2026
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Upon learning of Ava’s treachery, Deborah HOWLS.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
Noun
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Of course, the retort is that this would be irritating and exasperating to be continually deluged with alerts about AI deceptiveness.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
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Beyond the deceptiveness of the narrow material view, spiritual light and hope are always present to be found and felt.—
Sue Brightman,
Christian Science Monitor,
3 Jan. 2025
Noun
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There’s a tremendous amount of financial chicanery that goes on in 2026.—
Chris Murphy,
Vanity Fair,
11 June 2026
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Not many people, however, concluded that financial chicanery at executive level should be used as a stick with which to beat the players and coaches who had won those trophies over the years in question.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
Noun
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Gerry was not alone among the Founders in opposing such political gamesmanship.—
Frederic J. Fransen,
Boston Herald,
9 June 2026
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There was also gamesmanship by several teams, using one driver to slow down the pack to help their other driver gain positions.—
Sahil Kapur,
NBC news,
7 June 2026
Noun
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For everyone else, including this freelance journalist without an expense account, the approach is more like a military-level obstacle course designed to test your cunning and will.—
Jada Yuan,
HollywoodReporter,
22 May 2026
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The quality that drew Kurosawa to Yonezawa’s novel in the first place is not valor or cunning but something considerably less heroic.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
19 May 2026
Noun
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Once there, a combination of Messi’s genius, goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez’s larger-than-life performances, a well-balanced team, and — it must be said — some unsavoury moments of skullduggery by several players, helped Argentina battle their way to the final against defending champions France.—
Will Jeanes,
New York Times,
20 June 2026
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For this skullduggery-stopping potential, the city paid $67,548, which is in the rough ballpark as what your average cop probably makes annually.—
Frank Landymore,
Futurism,
17 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Trickery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/trickery. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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