n. 遁辞, 借口, 托辞

[法] 遁词, 托词, 藉口

[ noun ]
something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity
<noun.communication>
he wasn't sick--it was just a subterfugethe holding company was just a blind

Subterfuge \Sub"ter*fuge\, n. [F., from LL. subterfugium, fr. L.
subterfugere to flee secretly, to escape; subter under +
fugere to flee. See {Fugitive}.]
That to which one resorts for escape or concealment; an
artifice employed to escape censure or the force of an
argument, or to justify opinions or conduct; a shift; an
evasion.

Affect not little shifts and subterfuges, to avoid the
force of an argument. --I. Watts.

By a miserable subterfuge, they hope to render this
position safe by rendering it nugatory. --Burke.