Trollope ploy

noun

A negotiation technique in which a proposal from another party is deliberately misinterpreted in such a way that it is more to the responding party's liking, with the aim of having the misinterpreted version accepted in the interests of diplomacy.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounTrollope ploy (plural Trollope ploys)

plural Trollope ploys

  1. A negotiation technique in which a proposal from another party is deliberately misinterpreted in such a way that it is more to the responding party's liking, with the aim of having the misinterpreted version accepted in the interests of diplomacy.

Origin

Named after an incident from an Anthony Trollope novel in which a woman interprets a casual romantic gesture as a marriage proposal.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Trollope ploy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Trollope%20ploy

MLA

“Trollope ploy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Trollope%20ploy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Trollope ploy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Trollope%20ploy.

Source: Trollope ploy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.