tactic

1 of 3

noun

tac·​tic ˈtak-tik 

1

: a device for accomplishing an end

2

: a method of employing forces in combat

tactic

2 of 3

adjective

: of or relating to arrangement or order

-tactic

3 of 3

adjective combining form

1

: of, relating to, or having (such) an arrangement or pattern

phonotactic

2

: showing orientation or movement directed by a (specified) force or agent

geotactic

Note: Adjectives formed with -tactic usually correspond to nouns ending in -taxis.

Examples of tactic in a Sentence

Noun

an effective tactic for solving crimes

We may need to change tactics.

a specialist in naval tactics

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Johnson’s tactic to rely on Democrats to fund the government closely mirrors McCarthy's decision to avert a government shutdown with the help of Democrats. —Kevin McCarthy, USA TODAY, 7 Apr. 2024

Exactly the same tactic applies to the Avdiivka area, Volosyn says. —Tim Lister, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024

Biden's message marks a sharp change in his administration's steadfast support for Israel's war efforts, with the U.S. leader for the first time threatening to rethink his backing if Israel doesn't change its tactics and allow much more humanitarian aid into Gaza. —Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Apr. 2024

At the heart of the strategy used by Mr. Blanche and his colleagues on the Trump legal team is a favorite Trump tactic: stalling. —Alan Feuer, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024

The military, facing its most serious battlefield test, has resorted to ever more brutal tactics. —Timothy McLaughlin, The Atlantic, 4 Apr. 2024

Randall Sargent, a partner in the retail and consumer goods division of the marketing consulting firm Oliver Wyman, told The Post in January that tactics such as pulling all of a brand’s products are not uncommon in Europe. —Victoria Bisset, Washington Post, 4 Apr. 2024

The team started the game in a 4-3-3 formation but shifted to a more conservative 4-5-1 when Los Rayados had the ball and the tactic worked until Miami went down a man. —Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024

Hip-hop has been built on its fair share of historic feuds over the years and while the landscape of rap beef has changed its warfare tactics with the introduction of social media, fans are always going to indulge when the competitive juices get flowing in battle. —Jason Lipshutz, Billboard, 2 Apr. 2024

Adjective

Cleveland hosted the 2016 RNC. Milwaukee, Cleveland use RNC to tell positive stories Cleveland used the RNC to tell positive stories about the city − a tactic Visit Milwaukee is embracing. —Tom Daykin, Journal Sentinel, 29 Feb. 2024

The resilient tun state isn’t the only tactic water bears use to survive environmental stress, and the team plans to study these other strategies in close detail. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 17 Jan. 2024

Compressing file contents into archived zip files has long been a tactic threat actors use to conceal malware spreading through email or downloads. —Dan Goodin, Ars Technica, 15 May 2023

This is a tactic vendors of all sizes can employ to make returns somewhat more predictable. —Heather Hoover-Salomon, Fortune, 17 Nov. 2023

Miguel, who was elected mayor in October 2021, said Thursday that music has been constantly playing at the bandshell for roughly the past six months to discourage crime — a tactic cities have used for more than a decade. —Kyle Melnick, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023

Fast-food companies quickly launched a campaign to qualify a referendum on the ballot to reverse the law, a tactic business interests have adopted to pause and halt progressive laws from taking effect in California. —Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2023

One of the standard protocols is to have a second submersible on hand that can reach the first one if necessary, which is a tactic film director and deep-sea explorer James Cameron used during his 33 dives to the Titanic. —Syris Valentine, Scientific American, 31 July 2023

The Trump administration moved to ban the use of consent decrees, calling the tactic federal overreach. —David Nakamura, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from New Latin tactica "art of deploying troops in combat," borrowed from Greek taktikḗ (originally modifying téchnē "art, skill "), noun derivative from feminine of taktikós "of ordering or arranging, of ordering troops in combat"; in recent use also as back-formation from tactics — more at tactic entry 2

Adjective

borrowed from Greek taktikós "of ordering or arranging, of ordering troops in combat," from taktós "ordered, prescribed" (verbal adjective of tássein —Attic táttein— "to draw up in order [as troops, ships], post, station, place in order, prescribe, assess," of uncertain origin) + -ikos -ic entry 1

Note: The derivative noun tagḗ "line of battle" (and possibly Thessalian tāgós "commander") show that the base of the verb was tag-, which should have resulted in *tázein rather than tássein; the latter was presumably introduced from generalization of the voiceless consonant in the aorist and in derivatives such as taktós, táxis, etc. The base tag- has been compared with the Parthian title tgmdr (read as *taɣma-dára "order-giver"), Old Persian ham-ataxšata "they have put in order," Tocharian B tāś "commander," and (semantically much more distant) Lithuanian patogùs "convenient, comfortable," sutógti "to get married, ally oneself." R. Beekes proposes a verb *teh₂g-, invoking a law to delete the laryngeal in order to avoid positing a base with *a (Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2010).

Adjective combining form

borrowed from Greek -taktikos, after pairs such as prótaxis "placement in front, prefixing," protaktikós "used as a prefix" — more at tactic entry 2

First Known Use

Noun

1640, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Adjective

1871, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing tactic

• delaying tactic
• delay tactic

Kids Definition

tactic

noun

tac·​tic

ˈtak-tik

1

: a method of arranging and moving forces in combat

2

: a planned action for a particular purpose

Medical Definition

tactic

adjective

tac·​tic ˈtak-tik 

1

: regular in structure of repeating units in a polymer

2

: of, relating to, or showing biological taxis