tactics

American  

[tak-tiks] / ˈtæk tɪks /

noun

1. (usually used with a singular verb) the art or science of disposing military or naval forces for battle and maneuvering them in battle.

2. (used with a plural verb) the maneuvers themselves.

3. (used with a singular verb) any mode of procedure for gaining advantage or success.

4. (usually used with a singular verb)

   1. the patterns in which the elements of a given level or stratum in a language may combine to form larger constructions.

   2. the study and description of such patterns.

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tactics British  

/ ˈtæktɪks /

plural noun

1. (functioning as singular) military the art and science of the detailed direction and control of movement or manoeuvre of forces in battle to achieve an aim or task

2. the manoeuvres used or plans followed to achieve a particular short-term aim

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Related Words

See strategy.

Other Word Forms

• countertactics
  noun
• tactician
  noun

Etymology

Origin of tactics

First recorded in 1620–30; see origin at tactic, -ics

Explanation

Tactics are your carefully planned actions for attaining a certain goal. You'll have to come up with some clever tactics if you're going to figure out how to build the fastest race car and win the Girl Scout troop competition. Tactics also refers to a branch of military science that deals with planning maneuvers. Military tactics involve organizing troops in certain ways, in various locations, and deploying them according to plan. Your military strategy is your plan of action to achieve your overall goal — sinking the Spanish armada, for instance — while your tactics are the nuts and bolts of how you achieve it — deploying small, agile gunboats. Tactics comes from the Greek root taktos, meaning "ordered, arranged."

Example Sentences

Tactics such as offering free or discounted upgrades to a home, or paying to temporarily or permanently lower a buyer’s mortgage rate, can help close deals at the cost of a builder’s profit margin.

From Barron's • Jan. 20, 2026

Tactics like these trigger “System 1” thinking, she adds, the fast, emotional, intuitive thinking that usually handles everyday tasks, first described by Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025

Tactics once celebrated in the sodden conditions of certain Premier League grounds are now the height of fashion for the competition's leading sides.

From BBC • Oct. 28, 2025

In 2016, a contractor working on a trailer parked at the department’s Tactics and Survival Training Center using a metal grinder sparked a blaze.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2024

The rest of the Defensive Tactics course was a bit more in-volved.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover