View synonyms for cheap shot

cheap shot

noun

a covert, unsportsmanlike, and illegal act of deliberate roughness, especially in football, often calculated to injure an opponent.
any mean or unsportsmanlike remark or action, especially one directed at a defenseless or vulnerable person.

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Idioms and Phrases

An unfair or unsporting verbal attack, as in You called him an amateur? That's really taking a cheap shot . The term originated in sports, especially American football, where it signifies deliberate roughness against an unprepared opponent. [ Slang ; second half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

If the referee issues a two-minute or five-minute penalty for a cheap shot or a hit to the head, and the other team’s players don’t think that it’s enough, they’ll settle it.

From Washington Post

Does making fun of a large bandage on a forehead count as a political cheap shot?

From The Daily Beast

First, the cheap shot threats that might have intimidated other victims and their lawyers don't faze me.

From The Daily Beast

If you try it, it usually gets penciled or frowned out of existence by one editor or another as a cheap shot.

From The Daily Beast

"More likely on the gun," said Jean, for we had included a cheap shot-gun among the articles considered indispensable.

From Project Gutenberg

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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