The word "subterfuge" is formal and semi-common, with a negative tone.

You can say that someone uses subterfuge, employs subterfuge, or resorts to subterfuge. Or, you can say that someone accomplishes something through subterfuge. Or, you could talk about a book, show, or movie whose plot relies on or hinges on subterfuge. Or, you could say someone suspects someone else of subterfuge. 

Examples of subterfuge include snooping; eavesdropping; faking an illness; faking ignorance; deciding not to mention that you, too, speak the foreign language that your friend's family is always speaking around you; acting like you're someone's friend so they give you what you want; pretending to be someone you aren't; pretending you aren't at home when the landlord comes to collect your rent; blaming someone else for eating the last Oreo; and quietly removing the last page of your stapled packet of assigned work for A. P. English that had all the open-ended essay questions on it before doing the assignment and hoping your teacher would blame the photocopier, not that I would know anything about that. 

And, as the two examples below will illustrate, you can emphasize someone's honesty or good intentions by saying that they don't use subterfuge.

"'The teenage girl, a young 17, seems incapable of deception. Her voice rises into a bright squeal when she becomes excited. Her eyes have a limpid clarity that suggests no subterfuge."
  — Charles Isherwood, New York Times, 16 November 2014

"I had for some reason gone up to M. Dupont's room and was about to knock, but before doing so, as is my custom, I paused for a second to listen at the door. You may not yourself be in the habit of taking this small precaution to avoid knocking at some highly inappropriate moment... There is no subterfuge implied in such an action.''
  — Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day, 1989

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If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "subterfuge" without saying "ploy" or "artifice."

try it out:

Here's the narrator in Justina Ireland's novel Dread Nation:

"Momma used to say there were lots of ways to survive. Don't be afraid to pretend to be something you aren't, Jane. Sometimes a little subterfuge and chicanery is in order and the quickest way to achieve one's goal."

Granted, Jane is Black in America in the 1880s... living through a zombie uprising. Still, do you basically agree or disagree with her momma's advice, and why?

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Coaxed into a Haiku!"

I'll give you the basics of a news story, and you boil the story down into a haiku. You can check out some examples here.

Feel free to take full creative license, omitting or warping the facts, adding dialogue, using slang, cursing, and/or burying the lede. Just do your best to fit the story into a three-line poem of 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively.

Try this last one today...

"This Man Is Beating High Gas Prices With A Gas-Powered Barbie Dream Camper. How about those gas prices?... If you don't have a place to charge at home or can't justify an electric car, what about something conventionally fuelled yet exceptionally efficient? As CBS 8 San Diego reported, one man did just that by transplanting the engine from a pressure washer into a Power Wheels Barbie Dream Camper."
  — Thomas Hundal, The Autopian, 20 May 2026

To see one possible haiku, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. One opposite of SUBTERFUGE is

A. RANCOR: a deep, long-lasting, bitter hatred for someone.
B. CANDOR: honesty that's open, frank, straightforward, and outspoken.
C. HANLON'S RAZOR: the idea that when people have caused you problems or pain, it's better for you to assume that they did it accidentally and not purposefully.

2. In what Scientific American called an "elegant subterfuge," some fungi _____.

A. absorb sugar from trees, kindly returning the favor by providing nutrients
B. mimic the appearance and chemical signature of termite eggs in order to steal the termites' food
C. live a "cryptid lifestyle," floating along in microscopic tidbits that gobble up nutrients and decompose matter without anyone ever noticing

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B From the game: If you're happy with your haiku, then you succeeded! Here's mine:    50 MPG?    Roadworthy? Compact? Hot pink?    Yes, where do I sign?

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.