Words / S / General

subterfuge

noun/ˈsʌbtəfjuːdʒ/

B2CEFR level
50/100Rarity: uncommon
FormalRegister

A deceptive device or stratagem used to conceal or evade.

They gained entry to the archive by subterfuge, posing as inspectors.

Similar: ruse, ploy, stratagem

Origin: From Late Latin subterfugium, from subterfugere 'to escape secretly'.

Topic: deception in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

Get words like subterfuge on your lock screen, a few a day, with review that makes them stick.

Download on the App Store Lexfall puts a new word on your home and lock screen through widgets, so you learn without opening an app. Free to download. After a free trial, a subscription unlocks every field. Built for iPhone, iOS 15.1 or later.
QR code that opens Lexfall on the App Store
On a computer?Scan with your iPhone camera.

More general words: deception