Adjacent Words

Stratagem definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STRATAGEM, n. [L., Gr., to lead an army.]
1. An artifice, particularly in war; a plan or scheme for deceiving an enemy.
2. An artifice; a trick by which some advantage is intended to be obtained.
Those oft are stratagems which errors seem.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a maneuver in a game or conversation [syn: ploy, gambit, stratagem]
2: an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade; "his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track" [syn: contrivance, stratagem, dodge]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Italian stratagemma, from Latin strategema, from Greek strat?g?ma, from strat?gein to be a general, maneuver, from strat?gos general, from stratos camp, army (akin to Latin stratus, past participle, spread out) + agein to lead — more at stratum, agent Date: 15th century 1. a. an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy b. a cleverly contrived trick or scheme for gaining an end 2. skill in ruses or trickery Synonyms: see trick

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a cunning plan or scheme, esp. for deceiving an enemy. 2 trickery. Etymology: ME f. F stratagème f. L stratagema f. Gk strategema f. strategeo be a general (strategos) f. stratos army + ago lead

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Stratagem Strat"a*gem, n. [F. stratag[`e]me (cf. Sp. estratagema, It. stratagemma), L. strategema, Gr. ?, fr. ? to be leader of an army, fr. ? a general; ? an army (probably as being spread out; cf. Stratum) + ? to lead. See Agent.] An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence, in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil machination. Fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. --Shak. Those oft are stratagems which error seem, Nor is it Homer nods, but we that dream. --Pope.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(stratagems) A stratagem is a plan that is intended to achieve a particular effect, often by deceiving people. (FORMAL) Trade discounts may be used as a competitive stratagem to secure customer loyalty. = ploy N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. Artifice, device, manaeuvre, intrigue, wile, trick, fetch, dodge, crafty device, machination, plot, plan, scheme, artful contrivance, stroke of policy, finesse, ruse.

Moby Thesaurus

action, ad hoc measure, alibi, answer, apology, art, artful dodge, artifice, bag of tricks, blind, bluff, bosey, cabal, catch, chicanery, chouse, cloak, collusion, color, complicity, complot, confederacy, connivance, conspiracy, contrivance, contriving, countermove, counterplot, coup, course of action, cover, cover story, cover-up, covin, craft, curve, curve-ball, cute trick, deceit, deep-laid plot, demarche, design, device, dirty deal, dirty trick, dodge, effort, engineering, excuse, expedient, facade, fakement, fast deal, feint, fetch, ficelle, finagling, finesse, frame-up, front, gambit, game, gimmick, gloss, googly, grift, guise, handle, hocus-pocus, improvisation, intrigue, joker, juggle, jugglery, jury-rig, jury-rigged expedient, knavery, lame excuse, last expedient, last resort, last shift, little game, locus standi, lure, machination, makeshift, maneuver, maneuvering, manipulation, mask, means, measure, move, ostensible motive, pass, pis aller, plan, play, plot, plotting, ploy, poor excuse, pretense, pretension, pretext, protestation, public motive, put-off, racket, red herring, refuge, resort, resource, rigging, ruse, scheme, schemery, scheming, screen, scurvy trick, semblance, shake-up, sham, shift, show, sleight, sleight of hand, sleight-of-hand trick, smoke screen, solution, stalking-horse, step, stopgap, strategy, stroke, stroke of policy, subterfuge, tactic, temporary expedient, trick, trickery, trump, underplot, varnish, veil, web of intrigue, wile, wily device, wire-pulling, working hypothesis, working proposition