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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

potshot.

A shot taken at an easy or random target.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun
  1. A shot taken at an easy or random target.

    to take a potshot at
  2. Criticism of an easy target; a cheap shot.

    figuratively
Where this word comes from

From pot + shot. 1858, shot taken for the (cooking) pot, namely for food; see pothunter. Sense “opportunistic criticism” from 1926. Sense “drunk” from obsolete pot (“cup used for drinking liquor”).

verb
  1. To fire potshots.

Where this word comes from

From pot + shot. 1858, shot taken for the (cooking) pot, namely for food; see pothunter. Sense “opportunistic criticism” from 1926. Sense “drunk” from obsolete pot (“cup used for drinking liquor”).

adj
  1. Drunk.

    obsolete · slang
Where this word comes from

From pot + shot. 1858, shot taken for the (cooking) pot, namely for food; see pothunter. Sense “opportunistic criticism” from 1926. Sense “drunk” from obsolete pot (“cup used for drinking liquor”).

verb
  1. simple past and past participle of potshoot

    form-of · participle · past
Where this word comes from

From pot + shot. 1858, shot taken for the (cooking) pot, namely for food; see pothunter. Sense “opportunistic criticism” from 1926. Sense “drunk” from obsolete pot (“cup used for drinking liquor”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.