"4D chess" meaning in English

See 4D chess in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Etymology: An extension of the older term three-dimensional chess, which is an actual chess variant which is viewed as being very complex, and had long been used as a simile ("like a game of 3-D chess") in reference to geopolitics. The term 4D chess ("four-dimensional chess") became popular around 2017, in the context of US politics. Head templates: {{head|en|noun}} 4D chess
  1. (usually ironic) A sophisticated strategy that is far beyond the comprehension of others, in which apparent blunders are simply indicators of yet-to-be-understood brilliance. Tags: ironic, usually Synonyms: 4-D chess, four-dimensional chess, 5D chess

Alternative forms

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  "etymology_text": "An extension of the older term three-dimensional chess, which is an actual chess variant which is viewed as being very complex, and had long been used as a simile (\"like a game of 3-D chess\") in reference to geopolitics. The term 4D chess (\"four-dimensional chess\") became popular around 2017, in the context of US politics.",
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          "ref": "2021 August 5, “Messi’s Departure Is a Mess Everyone Could See Coming”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "These are the actions of a club flailing around to make things work, not the 4D chess moves of some Machiavellian puppet master.",
          "type": "quote"
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        {
          "ref": "2017 May 31, “The Enduring Appeal of Seeing Trump as Chess Master in Chief”, in New York Times:",
          "text": "Steve Bannon, who once referred to Trump as a “blunt instrument” for his ideology, risks 4-D-chess-playing his way straight out of his position of influence, as his president has reportedly become either annoyed or threatened by his attempts to cast himself as the real grandmaster.",
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        "(usually ironic) A sophisticated strategy that is far beyond the comprehension of others, in which apparent blunders are simply indicators of yet-to-be-understood brilliance."
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        "(usually ironic) A sophisticated strategy that is far beyond the comprehension of others, in which apparent blunders are simply indicators of yet-to-be-understood brilliance."
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      "word": "4-D chess"
    },
    {
      "word": "four-dimensional chess"
    },
    {
      "word": "5D chess"
    }
  ],
  "word": "4D chess"
}

Download raw JSONL data for 4D chess meaning in English (2.5kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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