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

Their ploy was copied and the ‘third back game’, as it was then known, became the standard system. —Michael Cox, New York Times, 12 June 2025

The kidnappers are Corsican nationalists who are executing their most dramatic ploy for liberation by keeping Séverine their hostage. —Emily Temple may 27, Literary Hub, 27 May 2025

As one legend goes, Dunleavy pretended to be a grief counsellor in a ploy to get an exclusive interview with the mother of Stacy Moskowitz, the final victim of the serial killer known as the Son of Sam. —Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 5 May 2025

Not a single second of daylight is saved by this ploy. —Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 May 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