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stratagem.

A tactic or artifice designed to gain the upper hand, especially one involving underhanded dealings or deception.

9 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈstɹæt.ə.d͡ʒəm/US
  1. A tactic or artifice designed to gain the upper hand, especially one involving underhanded dealings or deception.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Specifically, such a tactic or artifice in military operation.

    countable · uncountable
  3. Military deception or artifice.

    uncountable
  4. Cunning and artifice in general.

    uncountable
  5. A violent deed.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English stratageme, from Old French stratageme, from Latin strategema, from Ancient Greek στρατήγημα (stratḗgēma, “the act of a general, a piece of generalship”), from στρατηγέω (stratēgéō, “to be a general, command an army”), from στρατηγός (stratēgós, “a general, the leader or commander of an army”). See strategy.

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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.