outfox
verb

- to surpass (another) in cleverness or cunning; to outsmart

- to get an advantage over someone by acting more cleverly than them

The American Heritage Dictionary / The Cambridge Dictionary

—
WORD ORIGIN

In many cultures, the fox appears in folklore as a symbol of cunning and trickery, or as a familiar animal possessed of magic powers. The main reason is its keen sense of smell, hearing, and sight, which enable it to live close to human habitation without being easily noticed. Thus in combination with the prefix “out”, meaning to surpass, outfox literally means to be more clever than a fox, which is no easy feat. Outfox has been used in this way since the 1930s, from the old-fashioned verb fox, “to delude or deceive”.

—
STAY IN WITH OUT-WORDS

The prefix “out” can be used in combination with many words in the sense of being better than another person or thing. Here are a few of the more common applications:

outdo - to do better than another person (He outdid his classmates on the maths test.)

outrun - to run faster or farther or to flee or escape (He outran the police and was never found again.)

outlive - to live longer than (At the age of 95 he outlived everyone.)

outperform - to perform better than (He outperformed the other contestants to easily win the game.)

outsell - to sell or be sold in greater quantities than (The company outsold all of its main competitors in the third quarter.)

outshine - to surpass in splendour or excellence; to shine more than (The European subsidiary outshined all of the company’s other divisions.)

outweigh - to be greater in weight, importance or significance (The financial benefits outweigh the risks.)

—
SYNONYMS

- to beat or outdo, especially in a competition of wits:

baffle, bamboozle, be a cut above, be better (cleverer) than, be head and shoulders above, be one up on, bewilder, bilk, blow out of the water, cream, deceive, finagle, gain an advantage over, get one over on, get the better of, go one better than, have the edge over, hoodwink, leave standing, make (run) rings round, out-think, outclass, outdistance, outdo, outflank, OUTFOX, outguess, outgun, outjockey, outmanoeuvre, outmatch, outplay, outrank, outrival, outrun, outshine, outslick, outsmart, outstep, outstrip, outthink, outvie, outwit, outweigh, pull a fast one (on), put in the shade, put one over on, rook, snow, steal a march on

—
SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Maybe humans should collaborate with artificial intelligence agents, rather than try to OUTFOX them.”

—
Every month, the Smith-Family spends evening and weekend hours researching and writing your daily word.

OWAD has remained FREE, Ad-free, and alive thanks to kind donations from appreciative readers.

HERZLICHEN DANK if you are already supporting us. If not, please consider a single or recurring donation—even the equivalent of a single cup of coffee a month will help us cover mailing, site-hosting, and maintenance costs. Just head over to:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-5-2

or if you prefer to bank transfer:

Paul Smith, IBAN: DE75 7316 0000 0002 5477 40