outwit
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to get the better of by superior ingenuity or cleverness; outsmart.
to outwit a dangerous opponent.
- Synonyms:
- finesse, outthink, outmaneuver, outfox, outguess
-
Archaic. to surpass in wisdom or knowledge.
verb
-
to get the better of by cunning or ingenuity
-
archaic to be of greater intelligence than
Etymology
Origin of outwit
Explanation
Use the verb outwit to describe using your brain to beat an opponent, like outwitting someone by figuring out the answer to a difficult riddle. Wit comes from the Old English word witan, which means "to know." So someone who outwits another person knows more — or at least knows more than the person thought. You can outwit someone with clever words, or with craftiness on the playing field. An unexpected strategy can help one side outwit the other on the battlefield.
Vocabulary lists containing outwit
100 SAT words Beginning with "O"
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Where the Mountain Meets the Moon
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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
At the Candidates, one opponent tried to lead Sindarov away from the common lines that grandmasters tend to study, hoping that he could outwit the 20-year-old in a battle of instinct and intellect, not memorization.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 6, 2026
Watch as the fluid camerawork makes her kills look nastier, and the preposterous script allows her to outwit her foes, even with the cards stacked against her at every turn.
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
But they are increasingly facing a crafty adversary: bacteria that mutate and adapt and outwit the very drugs designed to defeat them and cure the infections they cause.
From BBC • Dec. 4, 2024
Armed with their new knowledge, the team hopes to outwit bacteria by cutting off multiple pathways.
From Science Daily • Nov. 28, 2024
He built and ran an intelligence operation that helped him outwit his foe and win the war.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
