as in to attack
to criticize harshly and usually publicly
The comic ended the show with a rant in which he potshot an assortment of celebrities.
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Recent Examples of potshot
Byalexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2024
Key bandmembers Waters and David Gilmour (pictured above right and left, respectively, in the early 1970s), have been feuding for decades, taking public potshots at each other while recently trying to find enough common ground to close a deal.
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 13 Sep. 2024
Members of the French Grande Armée—which included many Protestants and Catholics from Germany, Italy, and Poland—had defecated in the Kremlin’s Orthodox churches and taken potshots at the holy icons.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2017
Witness Donald Trump recently questioning the racial identity of his opponent, Kamala Harris, a race-baiting potshot that dredges up ingrained prejudices against biracial Americans that stretch back to the antebellum South.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for potshot 
Noun
Bolstered by hubris and net worth, these billionaires have loudly aligned themselves with their preferred candidate, taken potshots at the opposition, and flogged their personal policy prescriptions—often in feisty social media spats with one another.
—Byalexei Oreskovic, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2024
Key bandmembers Waters and David Gilmour (pictured above right and left, respectively, in the early 1970s), have been feuding for decades, taking public potshots at each other while recently trying to find enough common ground to close a deal.
—Jem Aswad, Variety, 13 Sep. 2024
Members of the French Grande Armée—which included many Protestants and Catholics from Germany, Italy, and Poland—had defecated in the Kremlin’s Orthodox churches and taken potshots at the holy icons.
—Stephen Kotkin, Foreign Affairs, 19 Sep. 2017
Witness Donald Trump recently questioning the racial identity of his opponent, Kamala Harris, a race-baiting potshot that dredges up ingrained prejudices against biracial Americans that stretch back to the antebellum South.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for potshot
Recent Examples of Synonyms for potshot
Verb
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Just two years prior, the NFL team had shelled out more than $1.4 million trying to get Becker elected mayor, and another roughly $1 million attacking Mayor Lisa Gillmor.Grace Hase, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
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An investigation from DePaul University and the Chicago Police Department is underway after two Jewish students who were visibly showing their support for Israel were attacked on the university’s Lincoln Park campus.NBC Chicago, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The latest salvo in the decades-long conflict between Iran and Israel lit up the predawn sky over Tehran on Saturday.Uri Friedman, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2024
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That outcome would underscore why authorities undertook aggressive easing measures late last month, and presented another salvo of support on Saturday.Jason Ma, Fortune, 12 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Police Benefit Association President Patrick Hendry also slammed the criminal justice system during the news conference and said NYPD officers are tired of being assaulted.Christina Shaw, Fox News, 20 Nov. 2024
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Gusts up to 60 mph slammed western Oregon and Northern California endured gusts up to 80 mph.Mary Gilbert, CNN, 20 Nov. 2024
Noun
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More like a real treat this week, because there’s actually a whole barrage of movies and television to tune into, finally.Savannah Salazar, Vulture, 16 Nov. 2024
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Min has faced a barrage of attacks related to his DUI arrest last year and last month had his campaign signs defaced with anti-Asian slurs.Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2024
Verb
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At the rally, the Republican hit several familiar notes, hinting at election fraud, insulting his opponents and criticizing Harris over immigration and the economy.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
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Trump has regularly insulted women who may pose a threat to him, such as his former opponent Hillary Clinton.Alena Botros, Fortune, 1 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Maintained in this state of wild vexation by volleys of planetary radiation— what if a genie replaced your phone with the club of somebody’s tibia bone?James Parker, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2024
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The volley of digital ads paints Valadao as corrupt and responsible for the rising costs of housing and health care.Grant Stringer, The Mercury News, 28 Oct. 2024
Verb
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Still, watching Hannah scold him about everything, from 401(k)s to boiling water to phone bills, from ordering him to walk a dog that doesn’t belong to him to telling him that riding hotel pool furniture would give her the ick, was painful.Alex Abad-Santos, Vox, 31 Oct. 2024
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Dolores returns to scold her grandson for badmouthing her during the show’s Día de los Muertos episode, which airs on NBC on Friday, Oct. 25.Brendan Le, People.com, 25 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Like a similar fusillade from Tehran in April, the main effect of the barrage was to stoke worries that Israel’s retaliation would ignite a regional war that drags in the United States, and opens whole new realms of uncertainty.Yasmeen Serhan, TIME, 7 Oct. 2024
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At every turn, Schimberg unleashes a nervy fusillade of ideas: about the unequal distribution of physical beauty, the social privilege that such beauty commands, the challenge of trying to probe these inequities through art.Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 13 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Potshot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/potshot. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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