Here is a context clues worksheet on the noun stratagem and another on the noun strategy. These two words are related, obviously, so it seemed best to post them together. What is the difference between them?
Stratagem means “an artifice or trick in war for deceiving and outwitting the enemy,” “a cleverly contrived trick or scheme for gaining an end” and “skill in ruses or trickery.” Strategy, as we most commonly use it, means “the science and art of employing the political, economic, psychological, and military forces of a nation or group of nations to afford the maximum support to adopted policies in peace or war,” and “the science and art of military command exercised to meet the enemy in combat under advantageous conditions.” It’s worth mentioning that a further definition of strategy is “the art of devising or employing plans or stratagems toward a goal.” That may be the best explanation of the relationship–and therefore use–of these two solid, Greek-based nouns. An set of stratagems becomes an aggregate–a strategy.
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Mark's Text Terminal 