as in ruse
a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end
tried various stratagems to get the cat into the carrier, but the feisty feline was wise to them all
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Recent Examples of stratagem
The scene is straight out of a stratagem by Pier Paolo Pasolini (Bertolucci’s mentor), but Palud takes it literally without applying comparable ideological critique to the rest of her film.
—
Armond White, National Review, 28 Mar. 2025
Its biting satire is complimented by engaging mechanics like the stratagems.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 28 Dec. 2024
The competitors are in a trancelike state, building a stratagem.
—Maddie Connors, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2024
In this scheme, the batteries provide the burst of power needed to take off, a stratagem that lets technicians tune the fuel-burning engine to run at its ideal rate.
—IEEE Spectrum, 1 June 2018
See All Example Sentences for stratagem
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stratagem
Noun
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The New York Colored American reported that some offers of short-term work for Black men — moving livestock to or from Kentucky, for example — were ruses that ended with kidnappings.—
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Odysseus, the Ithacan warrior who is as celebrated for craftiness as Achilles is for brute strength, devises a clever ruse in which the Greeks place a giant wooden horse outside Troy’s walls and pretend to sail away.—
Noun
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Sammis runs a pro-style scheme that prioritizes a strong run game and being efficient with the passing attack.—
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Williamson, Newsom’s former chief of staff, pleaded not guilty in November in a scheme to enrich her friend Sean McCluskie, a longtime deputy to former Attorney General Xavier Becerra, using money funneled from one of Becerra’s dormant campaign accounts.—
Noun
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This dish will do the trick with crispy chicken and fresh zucchini tossed in a tender linguine with a robust lemon flavor.—
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But even an invitation to hang out again, perhaps paired with a gift card to a local lunch spot, could do the trick.—
Cite this Entry
“Stratagem.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stratagem. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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