Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

subterfuge

2 min
•Apr 11, 20268 days ago
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Summary

This episode of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day explores the word 'subterfuge,' a formal noun meaning the use of tricks to hide, avoid, or obtain something. The episode traces the word's etymology from late Latin through modern English usage, illustrated with a Margaret Atwood quote about seeing through deception.

Insights
  • Subterfuge derives from Latin roots combining 'subter' (secretly/underneath) and 'fugere' (to flee), revealing how language encodes meaning through etymological layers
  • The word functions as a synonym for deception, fraud, and trickery, but carries a more formal, deliberate connotation than casual dishonesty
  • Understanding word origins provides insight into how historical concepts and values are embedded in modern vocabulary
People
Margaret Atwood
Her writing about Mavis Galant was quoted to illustrate the use of 'subterfuge' in contemporary literature
Mavis Galant
Subject of Margaret Atwood's essay used as example text demonstrating the word 'subterfuge' in context
Peter Sokolowski
Host of Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day podcast who presented and explained the word 'subterfuge'
William Butler Yeats
Referenced in Atwood quote regarding the 'cold eye' writers should maintain when observing deception
Quotes
"She certainly had the cold eye that Yeats recommended for writers, and she saw through subterfuge, no matter who was trying it on."
Margaret Atwood
"Subterfuge is a noun. It's a formal word that refers to the use of tricks to hide, avoid or get something."
Peter Sokolowski
"English borrowed the word with its meaning from the late Latin noun subterfugeum, which in turn comes from the Latin verb subterfugere, meaning to escape or evade."
Peter Sokolowski
Full Transcript
It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 11th. 500 orders a month was manageable. 5,000 is madness! Embrace intelligent order fulfilment with ShipStation. The only platform combining order management, warehouse workflows, inventory, returns and analytics in one place. What used to take 5 separate tools, ShipStation does in one. Go to ShipStation.com and use code START to try ShipStation free for 60 days. Today's word is subterfuge, spelled S-U-B-T-E-R-F-U-G-E. Subterfuge is a noun. It's a formal word that refers to the use of tricks to hide, avoid or get something. Here's the word used in a sentence from The New Yorker by Margaret Atwood. Despite her difficult childhood, Mavis Galant persevered through grit, bloody-mindedness and absence of self-pity and an ironic sense of humor. Lunch with her was always hilarious and often horrifying. The tales she told about her life exceeded in unlikely gruesomeness even her own fiction. She certainly had the cold eye that Yeats recommended for writers, and she saw through subterfuge, no matter who was trying it on. Though the word subterfuge is a synonym of deception, fraud, double-dealing and trickery, there's nothing tricky about the word's etymology. English borrowed the word with its meaning from the late Latin noun subterfugeum, which in turn comes from the Latin verb subterfugere, meaning to escape or evade. That word combines the prefix subter, meaning secretly, from the adverb subter, meaning underneath, with the verb fugere, which means to flee, and which is also the source of words such as fugitive and refuge, among others. With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.