playbook

noun

play·​book ˈplā-ˌbu̇k How to pronounce playbook (audio)
1
: one or more plays in book form
2
: a notebook containing diagrammed football plays
3
: a stock of usual tactics or methods
straight from his opponent's political playbook

Examples of playbook in a Sentence

He studied the new plays in the team's playbook.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Despite these differences, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is resorting to a familiar playbook for repressing protests, blending a passing acknowledgement of his system’s shortcomings with maximum deflection and defiance. Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2026 The next era of workplace innovation is here—and the old playbook is being rewritten. Isabel Debre, Fortune, 4 Jan. 2026 Siegel said there’s progress in the turnaround playbook, one that echos similar challenges in the sportswear brand’s 2015 to 2018 run-in with competitor Adidas. Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 2 Jan. 2026 The pragmatic playbook The playbook for successful candidates is to oppose the deeply unpopular establishment, but not at the expense of practically pursuing solutions to our problems. Will Johnson, Time, 1 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for playbook

Word History

First Known Use

1511, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of playbook was in 1511

Cite this Entry

“Playbook.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/playbook. Accessed 7 Jan. 2026.

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