outsmart

C2+ Topic:Describing People

US /ˌaʊtˈsmɑrt/ UK /ˌaʊtˈsmɑːt/ See IPA manual

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to defeat or get the better of by being more clever

The fox outsmarted the hounds by doubling back through the stream.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to defeat or get the better... outwitoutfoxoutmaneuveroutthinkoutguess best beat dupe

Word family

Related forms smart

Etymology

A modern American compound of out- ('surpassing, defeating') plus smart ('clever'). The out- marks getting the better of another.

ūt Old English smeart Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing People

# outsmart

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** ˌaʊtˈsmɑrt
**IPA (UK):** ˌaʊtˈsmɑːt

## Meanings
1. to defeat or get the better of by being more clever

## Examples
- The fox outsmarted the hounds by doubling back through the stream.

## Synonyms
- outwit
- outfox
- outmaneuver
- outthink
- outguess
- best
- beat
- dupe

## Related Forms
- smart

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: ūt
- Root: smeart

## Etymology
A modern American compound of out- ('surpassing, defeating') plus smart ('clever'). The out- marks getting the better of another.

## AI Etymology
Outsmart is a modern American compound of out- ('surpassing, defeating') plus smart ('clever'). The out- marks getting the better of another. Important recorded forms include ūt (Old English) and smeart (Old English). The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers to defeat or get the better of by being more clever. The wider family includes related words such as smart.

## Topics
- Describing People

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outsmart

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