tactical
Americanadjective
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of or relating to tactics, especially the placement of military or naval forces in battle or at the front line of a battle.
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characterized by skillful tactics or adroit maneuvering or procedure, especially of military or naval forces.
tactical movements.
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(of a weapon) short range, as battlefield missiles.
A tactical nuclear weapon would still present significant risks to battlefield troops on both sides of the conflict.
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of or relating to a maneuver or plan of action designed as an expedient toward gaining a desired end or temporary advantage.
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expedient; calculated.
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prudent; politic.
adjective
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of, relating to, or employing tactics
a tactical error
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(of weapons, attacks, etc) used in or supporting limited military operations
a tactical missile
tactical bombing
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skilful or diplomatic
a tactical manoeuvre
Other Word Forms
- nontactical adjective
- nontactically adverb
- tactically adverb
- untactical adjective
- untactically adverb
Etymology
Origin of tactical
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The daylight attack, he said, “was a tactical surprise.”
But how does that play into a Scottish election campaign where tactical voting is already a given?
From BBC
As life went on, Stanton got well into the intricacies of movement politics: meetings, rivalries, lectures, tactical disputes, the waxing and waning of public support.
The prime minister will wake up with both a tactical and a strategic question in his mind.
From BBC
For example, in a recent experiment, Payne found that AI opted to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in 95% of the scenarios he designed, something that humans have never done.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
