Synonyms: wile, artifice, trick, ruse, feint, stratagem, maneuver, dodge

These nouns denote means for achieving an end by indirection or deviousness. 

• Wile suggests deceiving and entrapping a victim by playing on his or her weak points:
  ... "He did not fail to see/His uncle's cunning wiles and treachery" William Morris. 
• Artifice refers to something especially contrived to create a desired effect:
  ... "Should the public forgive artifices used to avoid military service?" Godfrey Sperling. 
• Trick implies willful deception:
  ... "The ... boys ... had all sorts of tricks to prevent us from winning" W.H. Hudson. 
• Ruse stresses the creation of a false impression:
  ... Your pretended deafness was a ruse to enable you to learn our plans, wasn't it? 
• Feint denotes a deceptive act calculated to distract attention from one's real purpose:
  ... One person bumped into me as a feint while the other stole my wallet. 
• Stratagem implies carefully planned deception used to achieve an objective:
  ... The manager used ruthless stratagems to win the promotion. 
• Maneuver often applies to a single strategic move:
  ... "To this day they always speak of that Reform Bill as if it had been a dishonest maneuver" The Standard. 
• Dodge stresses shifty and ingenious deception:
  ... "'It was all false, of course?' 'All, sir,' replied Mr. Weller, ' ... artful dodge'" Charles Dickens.

... Am-Heritage