noun (n)

• something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity(noun.communication)

  Example:
  He wasn't sick--it was just a subterfuge.
  

  Synonym:
  blind
  

  source: wordnet30
• 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.(noun)

  source: webster1913