subterfuge
noun
1 subterfuge
Something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity:
— He wasn't sick--it was just a subterfuge.
synonym: blind.
Roget 702:
cunning,
craft;
cunningness†,
craftiness
etc.
adj.;
subtlety,
artificiality;
maneuvering
etc.
v.;
temporization;
circumvention.
chicane,
chicanery;
sharp practice,
knavery,
jugglery†;
concealment
etc.
528;
guile,
doubling,
duplicity
etc.
(falsehood)
544;
foul play.
diplomacy,
politics;
Machiavelism;
jobbery,
backstairs influence.
art,
artifice;
device,
machination;
plot
etc.
(plan)
626;
maneuver,
stratagem,
dodge,
sidestep,
artful dodge,
wile;
trick,
trickery
etc.
(deception)
545;
ruse,
ruse de guerre [Fr.];
finesse,
side blow,
thin end of the wedge,
shift,
go by,
subterfuge,
evasion;
white lie
etc.
(untruth)
546;
juggle,
tour de force;
tricks of the trade,
tricks upon travelers;
espieglerie [Fr.];
net,
trap
etc.
545.
Ulysses,
Machiavel,
sly boots,
fox,
reynard;
Scotchman;
Jew,
Yankee;
intriguer,
intrigant†;
floater [U.S.],
Indian giver [U.S.],
keener [U.S.],
repeater [U.S.].
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Roget 617:
pretext,
pretense,
pretension,
plea†;
allegation,
advocation;
ostensible motive,
ostensible ground,
ostensible reason,
phony reason;
excuse
etc.
(vindication)
937;
subterfuge;
color;
gloss,
guise,
cover.
loop hole,
starting hole;
how to creep out of,
salvo,
come off;
way of escape.
handle,
peg to hang on,
room locus standi [Lat.];
stalking-horse,
cheval de bataille [Fr.],
cue.
pretense
etc.
(untruth)
546;
put off,
dust thrown in the eyes;
blind;
moonshine;
mere pretext,
shallow pretext;
lame excuse,
lame apology;
tub to a whale;
false plea,
sour grapes;
makeshift,
shift,
white lie;
special pleading
etc.
(sophistry)
477;
soft sawder
etc.
(flattery)
933†.
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Roget 477:
intuition,
instinct,
association,
hunch,
gut feeling;
presentiment,
premonition;
rule of thumb;
superstition;
astrology†;
faith
(supposition)
514.
sophistry,
paralogy†,
perversion,
casuistry,
jesuitry,
equivocation,
evasion;
chicane,
chicanery;
quiddet†,
quiddity;
mystification;
special pleading;
speciousness
etc.
adj.;
nonsense
etc.
497;
word sense,
tongue sense.
false reasoning,
vicious reasoning,
circular reasoning;
petitio principii [Lat.],
ignoratio elenchi [Lat.];
post hoc ergo propter hoc [Lat.];
non sequitur,
ignotum per ignotius [Lat.].
misjudgment
etc.
481;
false teaching
etc.
538.
sophism,
solecism,
paralogism†;
quibble,
quirk,
elenchus†,
elench†,
fallacy,
quodlibet,
subterfuge,
subtlety,
quillet†;
inconsistency,
antilogy†;
a delusion, a mockery, and a snare"
[Denman];
claptrap,
cant,
mere words;
lame and impotent conclusion"
[Othello].
meshes of sophistry,
cobwebs of sophistry;
flaw in an argument;
weak point,
bad case.
overrefinement†;
hairsplitting
etc.
v..
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Roget 546:
untruth,
falsehood,
lie,
story,
thing that is not,
fib,
bounce,
crammer,
taradiddle†,
whopper;
jhuth†.
forgery,
fabrication,
invention;
misstatement,
misrepresentation;
perversion,
falsification,
gloss,
suggestio falsi [Lat.];
exaggeration
etc.
549.
invention,
fabrication,
fiction;
fable,
nursery tale;
romance
etc.
(imagination)
515;
absurd story,
untrue story,
false story,
trumped up story,
trumped up statement;
thing devised by the enemy;
canard;
shave,
sell,
hum,
traveler's tale,
Canterbury tale,
cock and bull story,
fairy tale,
fake;
claptrap.
press agent's yarn;
puff,
puffery
(exaggeration)
549.
myth,
moonshine,
bosh,
all my eye and Betty Martin,
mare's nest,
farce.
irony;
half truth,
white lie,
pious fraud;
mental reservation
etc.
(concealment)
528.
pretense,
pretext;
false plea
etc.
617;
subterfuge,
evasion,
shift,
shuffle,
make-believe;
sham
etc.
(deception)
545.
profession,
empty words;
Judas kiss
etc.
(hypocrisy)
544;
disguise
etc.
(mask)
530.
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Dutch: misleiding, smoesje, uitvlucht
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