subterfuge
noun /ˈsʌbtəfjuːdʒ/
/ˈsʌbtərfjuːdʒ/
[uncountable, countable] (formal)- a secret, usually dishonest, way of behaving
- Journalists often use subterfuge to obtain material for stories.
- a political subterfuge
Word Originlate 16th cent.: from French, or from late Latin subterfugium, from Latin subterfugere ‘escape secretly’, from subter- ‘beneath’ + fugere ‘flee’.