sweet spot

noun

plural sweet spots
1
sports : the area around the center of mass of a bat, a racket, or the head of a club that is the most effective part with which to hit a ball
If the bat connects near its sweet spot … it vibrates very little, much as a tennis racket feels solid if you hit the ball on the racket's sweet spot.Sharon Begley
The shape of the clubhead has a pronounced effect on [golf] shots that are not hit out of the sweet spot of the club …Steen Winther
2
: an ideal or most favorable location, level, area, or combination of factors for a particular activity or purpose
Many doctors have concluded that there is something of a sweet spot on the age-education-experience continuum. They seek out clinicians who are no more than 10 years out of residency, old enough to have some mileage, young enough to be up to speed.Nancy Gibbs et al.
To seafood men, Fulton is the jewel of the Atlantic coast, the sweet spot on the seaboard, and the best fish from Maine to Florida rolls into the markets in refrigerated trucks.Jonathan Gold
"We are considering a lot of options with the site," says Zach Nelson, executive vice president of marketing. "I think we are right in the sweet spot of what's required to make e-business happen."Daniel Roth
The winery in Rutherford, best known for its loamy Cabernet Sauvignon, has a sweet spot of 8 acres for Chardonnay, which has produced spectacular wines.James Laube

Examples of sweet spot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Their new study using living tissue has revealed the brain's sweet spot for tau proteins. New Atlas, 1 May 2025 This sweet spot also offers frozen cakes, take-home pints and coffee. Rod Stafford Hagwood, Sun Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2025 Public media, because of the taxpayer subsidy, hits a rhetorical sweet spot for the president. David Folkenflik, NPR, 29 Apr. 2025 Once the segmentation is complete, a peer group analysis determines the range of prices paid by that group, focusing on identifying a sweet spot that increases margins while not significantly decreasing the likelihood of winning the deal. Steve Banker, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for sweet spot

Word History

First Known Use

1919, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of sweet spot was in 1919

Cite this Entry

“Sweet spot.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sweet%20spot. Accessed 6 May. 2025.

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