Outwit

verb

verb ·2 syllables ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To get the better of; to outsmart, to beat in a competition of wits. transitive

    "But my dear Lady Teazle 'tis your own fault if you suffer it—when a Husband entertains a groundless suspicion of his Wife and withdraws his confidence from her—the original compact is broke and she owes it to the Honour of her sex to endeavour to outwit him—"

  2. 2
    beat through cleverness and wit wordnet

Example

More examples

"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority."

Etymology

From out- + wit.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.