Tradecraft

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The skills acquired through experience of a trade. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    skill acquired through experience in a trade; often used to discuss skill in espionage wordnet
  3. 3
    The methods used in espionage and clandestine operations. countable, uncountable

    "The conduct of the meeting and the passing of intelligence is simply amateurish statecraft and intelligence tradecraft, and begs the question: Who are the professionals planning the strategy and operations that direct the President on the world stage?"

Example

More examples

"The conduct of the meeting and the passing of intelligence is simply amateurish statecraft and intelligence tradecraft, and begs the question: Who are the professionals planning the strategy and operations that direct the President on the world stage?"

Etymology

From trade + -craft.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.