set piece

noun

plural set pieces

1

a

: a composition (as in literature, art, or music) executed in a fixed or ideal form often with studied artistry and brilliant effect

b

: a scene, depiction, speech, or event that is obviously designed to have an imposing effect

2

: a realistic piece of stage scenery standing by itself

3

: a precisely planned and conducted military operation

an offensive set piece that caught the enemy off guard

4

sports : a carefully planned sequence of movements performed by the members of a team (as in soccer)

A set piece can be used on either a direct or indirect type of [free] kick, providing one of the few times during the game that a team can execute something that it may have spent hours practicing.

—Doug Roberson

set-piece

ˈset-ˌpēs 

adjective

Examples of set piece in a Sentence

a movie with some lovely set pieces

She scored with a set piece.

Recent Examples on the Web

Arsenal’s convincing 4-0 victory at Leeds had a familiar format on Saturday, breaking the deadlock with yet another set piece to take three crucial points back to north London. —Mark Carey, New York Times, 2 Feb. 2026

Spider-Man’s struggle against Doc Ock is thrilling — especially the subway set piece, an action sequence that no other superhero movie has come close to matching — but Spider-Man 2 is really about Peter Parker’s struggle with Spider-Man. —James Grebey, Vulture, 31 Jan. 2026

The My Cottage set piece in the book and the episode and the season is really is my favorite part of the story in a lot of ways. —Dessi Gomez, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2026

The Great Mine has more set pieces that creatively push storytelling and exploration. —Gieson Cacho, Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1834, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for set piece

• apiece
• aris
• assise
• caprice
• cerise
• decease
• decrease
• eyepiece
• facepiece
• handpiece
• headpiece
• increase