ploy

noun

ˈplȯi 

1

: escapade, frolic

2

a

: a tactic intended to embarrass or frustrate an opponent

b

: a devised or contrived move : stratagem

a ploy to get her to open the door

—Robert B. Parker

Synonyms

• artifice
• device
• dodge
• fetch
• flimflam
• gambit
• gimmick
• jig
• juggle
• knack
• play
• ruse
• scheme
• shenanigan
• sleight
• stratagem
• trick
• wile

Examples of ploy in a Sentence

Her story about being sick is only a ploy to get you to give her money.

asking me to take her shopping turned out to be a ploy to get me to the surprise party

Recent Examples on the Web

Learning of Bannon’s ploy, Trump’s then chief of staff, Reince Priebus, urgently summoned Cabinet officials who supported NAFTA, including Trump’s first Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, and Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, to the White House to stop it. —Susan B. Glasser, New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2025

Here is an important general rule to apply to many such little ploys, including your own: Never make guesses about people. —Judith Martin, Mercury News, 31 Mar. 2025

The press made a motion to the court to unseal the full communications and Ho agreed, exposing Bove’s ploy. —New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 26 Mar. 2025

Since Twitch is primarily a website where people go to watch others play video games, the hot tub meta was seen as a ploy for women to show off their bodies, and rack up views. —Patricia Hernandez, Rolling Stone, 24 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

probably from employ

First Known Use

1697, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing ploy

• counter-ploy
• marketing ploy

Rhymes for ploy

• boy
• choy
• coy
• croy
• foy
• hoi
• hoy
• joy
• loy
• oy
• soy
• toy

Kids Definition

ploy

noun

ˈplȯi 

: a trick designed to embarrass or upset an opponent