tactical

adjective tac·ti·cal \ ˈtak-ti-kəl \

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

Examples: tactical in a Sentence

Definition of tactical

1 : of or relating to combat tactics: such as

a (1) : of or occurring at the battlefront

a tactical defense

a tactical first strike

(2) : using or being weapons or forces employed at the battlefront

tactical missiles

b of an air force : of, relating to, or designed for air attack in close support of friendly ground forces

2 a : of or relating to tactics: such as

(1) : of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose

(2) : made or carried out with only a limited or immediate end in view

b : adroit in planning or maneuvering to accomplish a purpose

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tactically

play \ˈtak-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

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Examples of tactical in a Sentence

They gained a tactical advantage by joining with one of their competitors.
He made a serious tactical error.
The planes provided tactical air support for the soldiers on the ground.

Recent Examples of tactical from the Web

Only the candidates who score high enough on tactical and written tests will be placed in one of Polk County's 85 elementary schools this fall.

— CBS News, "Meet some of the everyday people training to take down school shooters," 13 June 2018
The North Koreans passed the haul to their Russian sponsors, whose various military spy and cipher organs could read U.S. strategic and tactical communications for years afterwards.

— WSJ, "Pueblo Capture: A Failure of Senior Officers," 5 June 2018
When pursuing Bill Clinton, Ken Starr was a chatterbox to the media, for reasons both tactical and personal.

— chris smith, The Hive, "“This Is RICO 101”: Why Robert Mueller Isn’t Taking Rudy’s Bait," 23 May 2018
Both concern tactical and strategic mistakes by smart, experienced people, who had more confidence than humility and more intelligence than insight.

— New York Times, "John McCain: By the Book," 3 May 2018
The show is forever switching which of these two men has the upper hand, on both a moral and tactical level, so that rigid definitions of right and wrong no longer apply.

— rachel syme, The New Republic, ""Billions" reckons with the inflated egos and muddled ethics of Wall Street.," 24 Apr. 2018
The real question is whether there is any strategic or tactical need for them.

— The Economist, "High-tech weaponryRussia’s new nuclear weapons are technically plausible…," 8 Mar. 2018
Count me among those who believe last week's indictment was limited to Russian nationals and companies for strategic and tactical reasons, and that the worst is yet to come (and sooner rather than later) for the president and his defenders.

— andrew cohen, Esquire, "Is Bannon Gambling with Mueller?," 20 Feb. 2018
The sport is dynamic, precise, tactical and athletic.

— alan berner, The Seattle Times, "Good manners meet ‘weird physics’ at North Seattle’s Granite Curling Club," 18 Feb. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tactical.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.