potshot

American  

[pot-shot] / ˈpɒtˌʃɒt /

noun

1. a shot fired at game merely for food, with little regard to skill or the rules of sport.

2. a shot at an animal or person within easy range, as from ambush.

3. a casual or aimless shot.

4. a random or incidental criticism.

   to take a potshot at military spending in a speech on taxation.

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verb (used without object)

potshot, potshotted, potshotting

1. to fire or aim potshots.

   critics potshotting at the administration.

Etymology

Origin of potshot

First recorded in 1855–60; pot ¹ + shot ¹

Explanation

Shooting a gun at a very easy target without warning is taking a potshot. And if you meanly and randomly criticize someone, that's another kind of potshot. An overly easy criticism that's not well thought out is a common type of verbal potshot: "Your review was just a bunch of potshots at terrible movies!" This type of potshot comes from the gun-related version, first recorded around 1836. A potshot (or pot-shot) was a shot at an animal meant to "get it in the pot," or kill it strictly for food, rather than for the sport of hunting — the implication being that sport shooting required more skill.

Example Sentences

The potshot would have hit different had it come during Payton’s time as a Fox football analyst during his year’s sabbatical from coaching.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 12, 2023

Payton wasn’t aiming another potshot at his predecessor, however, just expressing his disdain for players who don the hats on the sideline after their day is done.

From Washington Times • Aug. 8, 2023

No one took a potshot or fired a missile at Biden.

From Washington Post • Feb. 20, 2023

And yet this is no simple countercultural potshot; it’s a tender, even loving humanization of a canonic composer, just as allergy-prone as the rest of us.

From New York Times • Jun. 30, 2020

Strauss simmered through most of the presentation but erupted when Rabi took a potshot at the illusory concept of a “clean” bomb.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik