Gambit example sentences
Related (10): strategy, maneuver, tactic, move, ploy, scheme, opening, sacrifice, calculated, strategic
"Gambit" Example Sentences
Common Phrases
- opening gambit
- bold gambit
- risky gambit
- clever gambit
- strategic gambit
- gambit backfired
- gambit worked
- make a gambit
- try a gambit
- chess gambit
Examples by Level
A1
- In chess, a gambit is when you give up a piece.
- His first gambit was to ask for money.
A2
- She used a clever gambit to get what she wanted from the negotiation.
- The gambit didn't work because they saw through his plan immediately.
B1
- Opening with a joke was his gambit to ease the tension, though nobody really laughed.
- The company's gambit to enter the market with cheap products nearly destroyed them.
B2
- Her gambit of brutal honesty about her mistakes paradoxically made people trust her more than they would have otherwise.
- He recognized that every conversation was essentially a gambit — you had to think several moves ahead or lose ground.
C1
- The negotiator's opening gambit was so deliberately low that it seemed almost designed to provoke a walkout, yet somehow it anchored the entire discussion.
- What appeared to be a desperate gambit — confessing everything at once — turned out to be the only move that could have salvaged his credibility.
C2
- There was something almost elegant about her gambit of asking for forgiveness without being asked first — it disarmed everyone's defensiveness before they even realized what had happened.
- The chess player understood that a true gambit wasn't merely the sacrifice of material but the creation of asymmetrical risk, where the opponent's fear of what you might do became more valuable than any piece.
Examples by Scenario
🏠 Everyday Life
- My neighbor's gambit of bringing over homemade cookies finally got me to help him move.
- The kid's gambit of pretending to be sick to skip school didn't fool anyone.
💼 Workplace
- His gambit of volunteering for the worst project actually made him look like a team player.
- The new hire's gambit to befriend the boss seemed calculated and made everyone uncomfortable.
📊 Business
- The startup's gambit to undercut competitors by 40 percent was bold but unsustainable.
- Their gambit to pivot to premium products worked better than anyone expected.
🛒 Buying / Shopping
- I tried the gambit of walking away from the car lot, and suddenly the dealer called me back with a better offer.
- The store's gambit of having a massive sale actually got me to spend more than I planned.
✈️ Travel
- His gambit to book a flight at 3 a.m. saved him hundreds of dollars.
- The hotel's gambit of offering free breakfast made us choose them over the competitor.
📚 Education
- The teacher's gambit of letting students choose their own topics made everyone actually care about the assignment.
- My daughter's gambit of asking for a dog every single day finally wore us down.
❤️ Relationships
- His gambit of showing up with flowers after the argument felt genuine, not manipulative.
- She made a gambit by telling him the truth about her past instead of hiding it.
📰 News / Politics
- The senator's gambit of appearing at the protest was transparent and backfired on social media.
- The campaign's opening gambit was to attack the opponent's record rather than promote their own vision.
💻 Technology
- The app's gambit of being completely free with no ads actually built a massive user base.
- The company's gambit to release an AI feature nobody asked for confused their entire user base.
📝 Formal Writing
- The researcher's opening gambit was to acknowledge the limitations of previous studies before presenting new findings.
- The proposal's gambit of requesting a smaller initial budget made the board more likely to approve the full project later.