Word of the Day

Saturday, February 02, 2008

subterfuge

\SUB-tur-fyooj\ , noun;

A deceptive device or stratagem.

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Quotes:

In the end, however, all the stealth and subterfuge were for naught, as the young publicity agent couldn't keep the secret.

-- Larry Tye, The Father of Spin

She has also complained . . . that the reporter used subterfuge to interview her, pretending to be the mother of an inmate.

-- Roy Greenslade, "Filthy rags", The Guardian, January 11, 2001

He is adept at subterfuge, at gaining entry to factories by masquerading as a laborer, a wholesaler, an exporter.

-- Jonathan Silvers, "Child Labor in Pakistan", The Atlantic, February 1996

Origin:

Subterfuge comes from Late Latin subterfugium, "a secret flight," from Latin subterfugere, "to flee in secret, to evade," from subter, "underneath, underhand, in secret" + fugere, "to flee." It is related to fugitive, one who flees.