How to Use dirty tricks in a Sentence

dirty tricks

plural noun
  • There have been no dirty tricks.
    Kevin Rennie, Hartford Courant, 13 June 2026
  • Vladimir Putin has copied some of his electoral dirty tricks.
    The Economist, 1 Aug. 2020
  • Of course Nixon and his colleagues were immersed in dirty tricks.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 29 Aug. 2025
  • The problem is not that her campaign was thwarted by dirty tricks.
    Monitor Editors, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Oct. 2017
  • The ruling party used all manner of dirty tricks to pervert the vote, but still lost.
    The Economist, 10 May 2018
  • But the prospect of more dirty tricks from Roger Stone can never be dismissed.
    Jack Holmes, Esquire, 6 Mar. 2018
  • But without a doubt, Democrats will be up to the same old predictable dirty tricks and tactics.
    Fox News, 28 July 2018
  • Shandor doesn’t think Russian-style dirty tricks will work in Hungary.
    Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic, 31 Mar. 2026
  • But the exam is marred not only by dirty tricks such as the one that denied Ms Chen her place.
    The Economist, 5 July 2020
  • Secrets triumphs two to one despite Bannon adopting her own dirty tricks.
    Rob Crilly, The Washington Examiner, 27 Mar. 2026
  • Never mind that the pious hosts were to toast a rough-and-tumble team known for its dirty tricks and abrasive behavior.
    Mike Klingaman, baltimoresun.com, 30 June 2021
  • The mating game can be brutal, and competing males cheat, sneak, steal, and use other dirty tricks to get the female.
    Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010
  • Hiring private detectives to spy on labor unions was one of the classic dirty tricks of the period.
    April White, Smithsonian, 22 Mar. 2018
  • Kenneth Whyte brings to life these pioneering days of febrile dramas, dirty tricks, wild stunts and pure genius.
    Les Hinton, WSJ, 28 Dec. 2018
  • But for all the talk of South Carolina’s penchant for dirty tricks, the state also values the glad hand.
    Sharon Lafraniere, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2024
  • And when the stakes are higher, companies are more likely to use agencies that resort to dirty tricks — and the public ought to know about those tricks, too.
    Casey Newton, The Verge, 17 Nov. 2018
  • The term evokes memories of dirty tricks and October surprises.
    The Politics Of Everything, The New Republic, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Across the South, voting restrictions, Jim Crow laws and dirty tricks wiped Black people from the polls.
    John Archibald | [email protected], al, 2 Aug. 2023
  • With the struggle heating up, the campaigns have accused each other of dirty tricks and reported shouting and harassment.
    Sarah Wu, The Seattle Times, 11 June 2018
  • There are allegations of espionage and dirty tricks by a foreign power during a race for the White House.
    The Economist, 23 Feb. 2020
  • That Shimu needs to pull off a few dirty tricks in order to edge closer to the finish line is less indicative of her own failings than of that of an entire system.
    Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Sep. 2019
  • The four 1960 debates were not without dirty tricks, Bill Newcott writes for Nat Geo.
    National Geographic, 28 Sep. 2020
  • Some in the opposition are still expecting dirty tricks in the next days and weeks, before Orbán formally hands over power.
    Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Allowing the dirty tricks to continue, at huge cost to taxpayers, for another three years is unacceptable.
    Betsy McCaughey, Boston Herald, 18 Jan. 2026
  • Time bred impatience, and to hasten the end stage of its scheme, the cabal resorted to dirty tricks, stealing seats on the court and filling them with its most devout loyalists.
    Ian MacDougall, Harper’s Magazine , 28 Sep. 2022
  • While waiting on the Lord to cast His ballot, Moore has sued political action committees that ran dirty tricks against him.
    Kyle Whitmire, al, 24 Nov. 2019
  • Ringside fans took it all very seriously, each bout a clearcut case of good versus evil, where good girls followed the rules while bad girls cheated, and the referees always seemed blind to dirty tricks.
    Thallman, oregonlive, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Because despite the state's tight controls over parties and the dirty tricks of the ruling United Russia, voting can make a difference.
    Fred Weir, The Christian Science Monitor, 17 Sep. 2021
  • While the Durham indictment details alleged dirty tricks by the Clinton campaign, there's also a big part of the 2016 story that's missing from it.
    Evan Perez, CNN, 30 Sep. 2021
  • The film meticulously recreated their steps in linking the Watergate break-in and Republican ‘dirty tricks’ campaign to the highest echelons of power in America.
    Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 17 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'dirty tricks.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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