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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of legerdemain
Serious people should know what an older version of antisemitic denialism was all about: a steady stream of factual nitpicks, logical inversions and rhetorical legerdemain meant to obfuscate and deny the greatest crime in history.
—
Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
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.
—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
See all Example Sentences for legerdemain 
Bret Stephens, The Mercury News, 8 Mar. 2024
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.
—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
See all Example Sentences for legerdemain
Recent Examples of Synonyms for legerdemain
Noun
-
Maybe Beane could work some contract magic for a big-ticket free agent, fans hoped.—
Tim Graham,
The Athletic,
24 Jan. 2025
-
Quantum magic The process begins by using regular computers to simplify a problem to be solved using quantum hardware.—
John Timmer,
Ars Technica,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The series was loosely inspired by the non-fiction book The Woman Who Fooled the World, written by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, the two journalists who uncovered the details of Gibson’s deception.—
Abid Rahman,
The Hollywood Reporter,
1 Feb. 2025
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One of the great joys of the U.S. version of The Traitors is watching familiar faces across the reality TV map converge in a game of strategy and deception (and, yes, mehrduhr).—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
30 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Garcia is quick and adept at carrying the ball into dangerous areas, with his trickery opening space for others to exploit.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
The Athletic,
21 Jan. 2025
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In the human realm, at least, equating cuckoldry solely with trickery and the cuckolded as weak and foolish is inaccurate.—
Brooke Scelza,
Scientific American,
19 Sep. 2024
Noun
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This sequence introduces The Agency as a maze of contradictory nationalist motivations, paranoia-inducing surveillance, and prevalent subterfuge — and, in its hidden center, a love story.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
24 Jan. 2025
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Using a figurehead Then again, Trump might just want to avoid all of these legal subterfuges by following the example of George and Lurleen Wallace.—
Philip Klinkner,
The Conversation,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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This would be immediately followed by my dad standing up, racing over to my uncle, and sometimes grabbing him by the collar to stop him from completing an action that in their eyes seemed to be an act of utter betrayal and treachery.—
Wayne Chan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
21 Jan. 2025
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Welcome back for another season full of [Alan Cumming voice] deception, backstabbing and treachery!—
Nick Caruso,
TVLine,
9 Jan. 2025
Noun
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There’s still a lot of baseball chicanery to take place over the next few months, though.—
Grant Brisbee,
The Athletic,
18 July 2024
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The eternal fight for liberty — slaves into gladiators, gladiators into free men — calls for courage and purpose beyond Lucius’s nightmarish expectations, uncovering the treachery and chicanery of Roman politics.—
Armond White,
National Review,
6 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Obviously, such a system is rife with uncertainty, and the history of the process is full of skulduggery, both on the club and player side.—
Tony Blengino,
Forbes,
13 Jan. 2025
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Climax became the first ever vegan cheesemaker to win a prestigious Good Food award—though dairy complaints caused the prize to be rescinded at the last minute, with shades of the protectionist, legal skulduggery faced by non-dairy milk products.—
Andrew Rosenblum,
Popular Science,
26 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Gilded by privilege and cunning, Glinda is a popular young woman who desires to wield magic.—
Destiny Jackson,
Deadline,
23 Jan. 2025
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There’s an unapologetic cunning at the heart of this series, and a mercurial spirit that’s as slippery as blood on an Italian marble floor.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
4 Apr. 2024
Articles Related to legerdemain
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Cite this Entry
“Legerdemain.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/legerdemain. Accessed 7 Feb. 2025.
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