strategy

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A carefully thought-out plan for achieving a goal, especially over a longer period.

   Grammar: Countable: a new strategy, several strategies. Often followed by for or to: a strategy for growth.

   Patterns

   • a strategy for something
   • a strategy to do something

   The company's strategy is to win customers with lower prices.

   We need a strategy for dealing with late payments.

   Her study strategy involved short sessions every day.

2. 2noununcountable

   The skill of planning how to use resources and make moves to win, as in war, business, or games.

   Grammar: Uncountable in this sense: military strategy, not a military strategy.

   Patterns

   • strategy and tactics

   Chess is a game of strategy as much as memory.

   He studied military strategy at college.

Word forms

Common combinations

develop a strategy

The team developed a strategy before the negotiations.

adopt a strategy

The school adopted a new strategy for teaching reading.

marketing strategy

Their marketing strategy relies on social media.

long-term strategy

A long-term strategy is needed to cut costs.

exit strategy

The investors had no exit strategy.

Synonyms and how they differ

plan

Plan is more general and can be small or short-term, while strategy suggests an overall approach to a bigger aim.

tactic

A tactic is one specific move used to carry out a strategy.

approach

Approach describes the way you go about something, with less sense of deliberate planning against obstacles.

Word family

strategic adjective

relating to a long-term plan or important in achieving it

strategically adverb

in a way that supports a plan

strategist noun

a person skilled at making plans

Commonly confused: strategy or tactic?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “strategy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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