1
as in magic
the art or skill of performing tricks or illusions for entertainment
the illusionist's show is an entertaining blend of legerdemain and over-the-top showmanship
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2
as in deception
the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end
the reduction of the deficit is due in part to financial legerdemain that masks the true costs of running the government
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Recent Examples of legerdemain
Flashbacks disclose Silva and Jack’s young and crazy past through a bit of cinematic legerdemain: A drunken, dissolute barrier-busting orgy with whores and wine that reenacts a bawdy scene from Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch.
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Armond White, National Review, 27 Oct. 2023
But this moment—and the final passage of the IRA itself—shows how the Senate’s rules have devolved the legislative process into an inscrutable whirligig of procedural legerdemain.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2022
His team is developing the bioreactor that performs the legerdemain.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 May 2018
There is studio photography by the artists of legerdemain, such as the Malians Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé.
—Seph Rodney, New York Times, 29 June 2023
See all Example Sentences for legerdemain 
Armond White, National Review, 27 Oct. 2023
But this moment—and the final passage of the IRA itself—shows how the Senate’s rules have devolved the legislative process into an inscrutable whirligig of procedural legerdemain.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2022
His team is developing the bioreactor that performs the legerdemain.
—IEEE Spectrum, 22 May 2018
There is studio photography by the artists of legerdemain, such as the Malians Seydou Keïta and Malick Sidibé.
—Seph Rodney, New York Times, 29 June 2023
See all Example Sentences for legerdemain
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legerdemain
Noun
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To learn more about superstition, check out my new book about the science of magic.Popular Science Staff, Popular Science, 6 Nov. 2024
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At Sainsbury’s, the collaboration with Roald Dahl’s The BFG leans into nostalgia, tugging at consumers’ heartstrings with a dose of festive magic.Kate Hardcastle, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
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But because pressured waterfowl aren’t easy to fool, hunters have been trying to perfect the art of decoy deception to swing the odds in their favor.Alice Jones Webb, Outdoor Life, 14 Nov. 2024
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On Thursday, Prime Video debuted the first trailer for its series adaptation of the 1999 teen movie, all eight episodes premiering Nov. 21 on the streamer, bringing a familiar tale of deception to a new locale with all new characters.Glenn Garner, Deadline, 24 Oct. 2024
Noun
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The documentary never suitably addresses any of this, nor Goode’s trickery.Jen Chaney, Vulture, 8 Sep. 2024
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While sudden incidents wrest the plot in new directions, the film is driven less by perverse narrative trickery than by the arbitrary cruelty of fate or the volatility of human nature.Guy Lodge, Variety, 26 Sep. 2024
Noun
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Putin’s ties to social media What Putin lacks as a military leader, the former KGB secret agent makes up for in subterfuge.Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2024
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When Lorraine’s cocoon of wealth begins to crack after Dot’s subterfuge, Wayne’s injuries, Roy’s threats, and Danish’s disappearance, Leigh centers the Queen of Debt’s humanizing concern.Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 17 Jan. 2024
Noun
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Hosted by Alan Cumming, the game of treachery and deceit returns to Peacock on Thursday, January 9th.Anne Easton, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024
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Politics is full of deceit, treachery, and betrayal. . . .Quintus Tullius Cicero, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2012
Noun
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Specifically, expect to see a new look at the latest DLC for Alan Wake 2, The Lake House, and an in-depth look at the latest chicanery coming out of Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.Ash Parrish, The Verge, 17 Oct. 2024
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OpenAI did not inflict its current legal headache on itself out of cunning chicanery, but out of a desire to satisfy a number of different early stakeholders, many of them true believers.Kelsey Piper, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Noun
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There are many reasons beyond cheating and skulduggery that someone might root or modify their Android device.Kevin Purdy, Ars Technica, 30 July 2024
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And so the tale of how the Giants established themselves at the Polo Grounds is told, accurately enough, as a piece of complicated capitalist skulduggery in which the team’s desperate owner bought a controlling interest in the Baltimore Orioles and then dragged its stars north.Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2024
Noun
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The movie’s costume designer Tom Broecker says the change highlights the lethal cunning that lurks below the character’s beauty.Alexandra Willingham, CNN, 29 Oct. 2024
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Successful criminals need to have discipline, a plan, patience, and cunning.Erin Qualey, Vulture, 28 Aug. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Legerdemain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legerdemain. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
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