Ploy and Variation

Ploy

Ploy noun - A clever often underhanded means to achieve an end.

Show all Definitions

Variation and ploy are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Variation" instead a noun "Ploy".

Nearby Word: ployed

Variation noun - A distinct treatment of something (as a story or a play).

Show all Definitions

Ploy and variation are semantically related. Sometimes you can use "Ploy" instead a noun "Variation".

Nearby Words: variety, variable, varied, variance, variant

old	old ploy	old variation
good	good ploy	good variation
particular	particular ploy	particular variation
similar	similar ploy	similar variation
Other adjectives: common, standard, simple, popular, little, villainous, main, clever, odd, occasional.

There's a variation in Haré+Guu where Marie gets everyone in Hale's family to play house with her, but she's the child and it ends up being a ploy to be able to get parental affection.

Source: Playing House
A variation in Merlin in that it's the hero who pulls it off, using a villain's ploy against them.

Source: Poison-and-Cure Gambit
A variation that is actually used as a strategic ploy in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015).

Source: You Are Already Dead

Cite this Source

Variation and Ploy. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/ploy/variation

Ploy & Variation. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/ploy/variation>.

Variation or Ploy. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/ploy/variation.

Google Ngram Viewer shows how "ploy" and "variation" have occurred on timeline