Word of the day: Outsmart

To outsmart someone is to be smarter, or more intelligent, than they are. If you've seen any of the cartoons with Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, you may remember that Roadrunner always outsmarted Coyote.

There are a number of other verbs with this prefix, and in general they mean to exceed your opponent, or your own expectations, in the activity. Some examples: outrun, outperform, outspend. A few sentences:

My opponent outsmarted me and won the game.

Outspending the competition dosen't guarantee success.

The new product sales outperformed our expectations by 5%.

He chased her for three blocks, but she outran him and disappeared.