as in to outwit
to get the better of through cleverness
an inexpensive security system that would likely be outsmarted by anyone with a serious interest in circumventing it
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Recent Examples of outsmart
Much of the pleasure of John Lee Hancock’s marginal thriller comes in the familiar sight of Washington outsmarting those around him and projecting a weary grandeur that suggests all the horrors this man has seen on the job.
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Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
With her bold personality and a sharp grasp of social strategy from binge-watching every season of Survivor, she’s poised to outsmart her competition.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 10 Oct. 2024
There was suddenly something a bit naff about serving bombs but being outsmarted by Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray, two of the best returners the sport has ever seen.
—Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 8 July 2024
Get savvy Job seekers are using AI to try and outsmart the hiring process, and recruiters are starting to catch on.
—Byemma Burleigh, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for outsmart 
Tim Grierson, Vulture, 24 Nov. 2024
With her bold personality and a sharp grasp of social strategy from binge-watching every season of Survivor, she’s poised to outsmart her competition.
—Dalton Ross, EW.com, 10 Oct. 2024
There was suddenly something a bit naff about serving bombs but being outsmarted by Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray, two of the best returners the sport has ever seen.
—Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 8 July 2024
Get savvy Job seekers are using AI to try and outsmart the hiring process, and recruiters are starting to catch on.
—Byemma Burleigh, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for outsmart
Recent Examples of Synonyms for outsmart
Verb
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Forced back into combat, Billie Jean sets traps and executes precise strikes to outwit the attackers.Alex Ritman, Variety, 5 Nov. 2024
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For a concrete example of how AI has intensified the cat-and-mouse game between human and artificial BS, and the capacity of both to outwit and fool each other, consider recruitment.Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Forbes, 21 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Qualcomm attempted to buy NXP to fill this slot, was thwarted by China regulators and is now building the capability itself.Patrick Moorhead, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
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Federal regulators have known for more than four decades that formaldehyde is toxic, but their attempts to limit the chemical have been repeatedly thwarted by the many companies that rely on it.Sharon Lerner and Al Shaw, CNN, 5 Dec. 2024
Verb
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File-sharing phishing attacks, are an email threat in which a cybercriminal legitimate file-hosting or e-signature solutions to deceive the victim.Davey Winder, Forbes, 12 Dec. 2024
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This content, much of it clearly generated by AI rather than intended to deceive—a medium of crude self-expression, not sophisticated subterfuge—may have been the technology’s biggest impact on the 2024 presidential election.Matteo Wong, The Atlantic, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Maryland enjoyed its most effective offensive outing since defeating Fairleigh Dickinson, 111-85, on Nov. 18, 2005.Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 18 Dec. 2024
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Elsewhere on the show, World Heavyweight Champion Gunther defeated both Damian Priest and Finn Balor in a triple threat match.Joe Otterson, Variety, 17 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Without more specific support, Plaintiff fails to overcome the prejudice to Defendants and public interest factors implicated here.KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY, 7 Dec. 2024
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But the Voyager team has become increasingly creative to keep both probes flying, and soon, the challenges may be too great to overcome.Ashley Strickland, CNN, 7 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Situated in one of the game's smallest media markets, the Padres under General Manager A.J. Preller have spent lavishly and made a series of splashy acquisitions, but keep getting outfoxed by their upstate rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers.David Faris, theweek, 5 Sep. 2024
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Here, Shyamalan has similar intentions: His movie would be nothing without Hartnett’s serial killer outfoxing his pursuers, slipping past one security barrier after another, stealing access badges willy-nilly and engineering his daughter’s onstage appearance with her idol.Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 2 Aug. 2024
Verb
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That rough rollout inspired immediate push-back and criticism from activists, some of which attached traffic cones to the hoods of cars to fool Cruise sensors and immobilize them.Mack DeGeurin, Popular Science, 11 Dec. 2024
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Don't be fooled into thinking a nice hotel is less likely to have bedbugs.Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Perhaps the shape rotators are convinced that computers can outthink us because their own minds are so impoverished.Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 26 June 2024
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In a blog post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai predicted the technology underlying Gemini Advanced will be able to outthink even the smartest people when tackling many complex topics.Michael Liedtke, Fortune, 9 Feb. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near outsmart
Cite this Entry
“Outsmart.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/outsmart. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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