ruse
n.a clever trick or a plan that is used to deceive someone. You use it when someone pretends to do one thing while actually doing another.
n.a clever stratagem or trick intended to deceive or outmaneuver an opponent. Often implies a degree of sophistication or calculated misdirection.
“He used a fake phone call as a ruse to leave.”
“The soldiers used a fake retreat as a ruse to lure the enemy into the open field.”
“The elaborate ruse involved forged documents and a series of shell companies, all designed to distract investigators from the actual source of the funds.”
Often used with the preposition 'to' followed by an infinitive verb.
Borrowed from Bulgarian Русе (Ruse).
* As an English surname, variant of Rouse, Rowse. * As a German surname, variant of Reuss, Reusse. * As a Czech surname, Americanized from Rus (“Russian”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.