ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsSsubterfuge
ISEE/SSAThard
subterfuge
Meaning: a deceptive scheme used to conceal a true purpose
subterfuge in a sentence
How subterfuge is used in real sentences:
The false emergency was merely a subterfuge to empty the building.
Pretending to be lost was a subterfuge that allowed the spy to study the guards.
“The hearing opened with a subterfuge: the mayor described the gathering as a celebration of new filtration equipment, concealing that the state had ordered it.”
— from the passage The Case She Carried
“A concealed alteration might have been a subterfuge designed to shift responsibility onto the committee.”
— from the passage The Fault in the Bronze
Synonyms for subterfuge
Other words for subterfuge — deception, ruse and trickery — carry the same meaning.
- deception
- ruse
- trickery
Antonyms of subterfuge
Words that mean the opposite of subterfuge:
- honesty
- candor
- openness
Where it comes from
From Late Latin subterfugium, meaning 'evasion.'
Memory hook
SUBTERFUGE sounds like 'secret refuge': it gives the truth a place to hide.
Practice subterfuge in the app