outfox
/ˌaʊtˈfɒks/
"outfox" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“outfox” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To beat (someone) in a competition of wits with superior cleverness or cunning; to outsmart.
Corpus desk
Index EN-outfox · outfox · English
outfox · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "O" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | outfox |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌaʊtˈfɒks/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “outfox” in English
Rare enough to double-check
outfox is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌaʊtˈfɒks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To beat (someone) in a competition of wits with superior cleverness or cunning; to outsmart.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for outfox, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From out- + fox. The correct English form is outfox, spelled O-U-T-F-O-X.
Definition
- 1To beat (someone) in a competition of wits with superior cleverness or cunning; to outsmart.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how outfox appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
You can win games in two ways. You either outtalent and outmuscle your opponent because you have all the big, fast studs, or you outfox, outplot, and outmaneuver your opponent because you have a system that your opponents can't prepare for in one week.
Etymology
From out- + fox.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.