as in to attack
to criticize harshly and usually publicly
The comic ended the show with a rant in which he potshot an assortment of celebrities.
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Recent Examples of potshot
Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 7 Apr. 2025
Soon, the pair are playing long-distance chess, air drumming, and taking competitive potshots at one another’s dishware.
—Graham Hillard, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Feb. 2025
Instead Trump has taken verbal potshots at California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and President Biden, suggesting their actions are to blame for the failure to contain the fires.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 8 Jan. 2025
New Hampshire’s lower chamber has four hundred people, nearly double the second-largest state legislature in the country, so there were plenty of representatives willing to take potshots at the hawk and belittle the children who wanted to honor it.
—Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for potshot
Noun
In a separate tweet, Ackman also took potshots at U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 7 Apr. 2025
Soon, the pair are playing long-distance chess, air drumming, and taking competitive potshots at one another’s dishware.
—Graham Hillard, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 28 Feb. 2025
Instead Trump has taken verbal potshots at California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and President Biden, suggesting their actions are to blame for the failure to contain the fires.
—Niall Stanage, The Hill, 8 Jan. 2025
New Hampshire’s lower chamber has four hundred people, nearly double the second-largest state legislature in the country, so there were plenty of representatives willing to take potshots at the hawk and belittle the children who wanted to honor it.
—Casey Cep, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for potshot
Recent Examples of Synonyms for potshot
Verb
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Boone acknowledged that location will be key for Stroman, who can no longer attack hitters head-on at this stage of his career.—
Gary Phillips,
New York Daily News,
28 June 2025
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The wild and ugly scenes saw rioters attack law enforcement with rocks and Molotov cocktails while others burned vehicles and other property.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
28 June 2025
Noun
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The final, sixth salvo may have been launched minutes past the ceasefire deadline, leading Israel to respond.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
24 June 2025
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Markets will therefore respond faster than during the opening salvo: latency charts and options pricing will register movement before headlines populate newsfeeds.—
Guney Yildiz,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
Verb
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The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee slammed President Trump’s remarks about regime change in Tehran in the aftermath of U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.—
Laura Kelly,
The Hill,
23 June 2025
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But the door slammed shut following three straight losses.—
Nick Crain,
Forbes.com,
23 June 2025
Noun
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More Hossein Beris/Getty Images Iran launched a significant missile barrage on major cities across Israel on Friday.—
Amanda Castro
Peter Aitken,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 June 2025
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The Sixers signed George to a four-year max contract last offseason to round out their Big Three next to Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, but that trio never got off the ground in 2024-25 due to a nonstop barrage of injuries.—
Bryan Toporek,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Verb
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In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump has repeatedly insulted Powell and called him names.—
Jim Edwards,
Fortune,
26 June 2025
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In particular, its retread of plot elements that had already been rehashed to death was annoying and borderline insulting at this point.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
24 June 2025
Noun
-
Messi has scored volleys, half-volleys, soft chips, close-range headers, and several game-winners as an MLS player.—
Felipe Cardenas,
New York Times,
14 June 2025
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This apparent rapprochement follows accusations from both sides that the other country violated a May 12 truce negotiated in Geneva, which halted retaliatory tariff volleys between the two that veered as high as 145%.—
Michael Barclay,
Quartz,
6 June 2025
Verb
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Paul Krugman has referred to deficit hawks as ‘deficit scolds’, because the spend more time warning about the dangers of the deficit than fixing it.—
Mike O'Sullivan,
Forbes.com,
28 June 2025
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Musk and Gor reportedly clashed in Cabinet meetings where Musk scolded Gor over personnel disagreements in recent months.—
Ally Goelz,
The Washington Examiner,
19 June 2025
Noun
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Iranian news reports said a new fusillade of missiles had been fired toward Israel.—
Francesca Chambers,
USA Today,
21 June 2025
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Trump earlier in the day had ripped Musk on camera and on social media, as the man who funneled hundreds of millions to Trump’s presidential campaign unleashed a fusillade against him.—
Ian Swanson,
The Hill,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Potshot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/potshot. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.
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