tactic
tactic — noun
1. a specific method or carefully planned action aimed at reaching a particular goa
a specific method or carefully planned action aimed at reaching a particular goal, often used in situations that involve competition, negotiation, or persuasion.
Gabriel used a clever tactic in the debate, asking questions his opponent could not answer.
collocation: clever tactic
The sales team adopted a new tactic of offering free trials to attract younger customers.
tactic + of + noun/-ing
One common negotiation tactic is to let the other person make the first offer.
For exams, a good tactic is to review a little each day instead of cramming.
The company's pricing tactic backfired when customers turned to cheaper competitors.
- improvisation
doing something without a planned method
文法句型
tactic + for + noun/-ing
tactic + of + noun/-ing
用法筆記
In everyday conversation, people often use 'tactic' and 'strategy' loosely as synonyms. Strictly speaking, a tactic is one specific action, while a strategy is the overall long-term plan that coordinates multiple tactics.
常見錯誤
2. the planned use of soldiers, weapons, and vehicles on the battlefield in order t
the planned use of soldiers, weapons, and vehicles on the battlefield in order to gain an advantage over the enemy.
The general ordered his troops to use a flanking tactic to surround the enemy camp.
flanking tactic — military positioning
Modern military tactics rely heavily on drones for surveillance before any ground movement.
Cyrus studied historical battle tactics at the military academy for two years.
Guerrilla tactics, including ambushes, helped the smaller force hold off the larger army.
The platoon used diversion tactics to draw the enemy away from the village bridge.
- battle plan
a specific plan for one battle, less broad than 'tactic'
- maneuver
a specific movement of military units during combat
文法句型
military tactic(s)
guerrilla tactic(s)
用法筆記
When used as an uncountable noun (e.g. 'an expert in military tactic'), it refers to the field or study of battle methods rather than individual actions.
常見錯誤
tactic — adjective
1. relating to the logical arrangement, order, or structure of the parts that make
relating to the logical arrangement, order, or structure of the parts that make up a system — used especially in technical or academic contexts such as linguistics and biology.
The professor explained the tactic structure of the sentence, showing how each phrase connected.
linguistics: tactic structure of a sentence
Linguists study tactic patterns of word arrangement to see how different languages form grammatical sentences.
linguistics: tactic patterns of word arrangement
Mei-Lin studied the tactic grouping of notes in a Baroque score to grasp its rhythm.
In logic, a valid argument follows a tactic order where each premise supports the next.
Tuan learned in syntax class that the tactic order of words makes a sentence grammatical.
- structural
more common synonym; 'tactic' is more technical and formal
文法句型
tactic + noun
用法筆記
This sense is rare outside academic writing. Most learners will encounter it in the combining form '-tactic' within words like 'syntactic' (sentence structure) or 'phonotactic' (sound patterns).
2. used in compound words to mean 'relating to a particular kind of arrangement, or
used in compound words to mean 'relating to a particular kind of arrangement, order, or pattern' — for example, 'syntactic' (the arrangement of words in a sentence) or 'phonotactic' (the allowed patterns of sounds in a language).
Syntactic rules determine how words are arranged into grammatical sentences in any language.
syntactic = relating to sentence structure
Phonotactic rules explain why 'spl-' can start an English word but 'ptl' cannot.
phonotactic = relating to sound patterns
Morphotactic rules describe how prefixes, roots, and suffixes can be combined in a language.
A noun's syntactic role depends on whether it is the subject or the object.
文法句型
[noun] + tactic
用法筆記
This is a combining form (bound morpheme), not a standalone adjective. It attaches to a noun stem to form a compound adjective. Common in linguistics and biology: syntactic, phonotactic, morphotactic.
3. used in compound words to mean 'showing movement toward or away from a particula
used in compound words to mean 'showing movement toward or away from a particular force or substance' — for example, 'chemotactic' (movement in response to a chemical) or 'phototactic' (movement in response to light).
Bacteria exhibit chemotactic behaviour by swimming toward nutrients and away from harmful substances.
chemotactic = response to chemicals
The phototactic response of algae makes them gather near the sunny water surface.
phototactic = response to light
Plant roots display geotactic behaviour by growing downward into the soil in response to gravity.
Some insects show thermotactic movement by seeking warmer spots when the temperature drops at night.
文法句型
[noun] + tactic
用法筆記
Like sense 2, this is a combining form attached to a noun stem. The noun specifies the force or agent (chemical, light, heat, gravity). Found mainly in biology research literature.