Meanings
- pluralplural onlyThe piecemeal removal or scaling back of something (especially political opposition); a gradual attack on an opposing position, group, etc.
At another level, there are what the Americans describe as Iraq's "salami tactics" - picking at weak points in the rules of sanctions, preferably in ways that cause disagreement between the US and other countries.
2001 January 3, Brian Whitaker, “The great survivor”, in The Guardian2 more examples
The tactics were more those of 1948 in Prague than St. Petersburg in 1917, consisting of the slow acquisition of positions in the army and the police, and the application of what used to be called “salami tactics” against other parties.
2010, Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22, McClelland & Stewart, published 2010, →ISBN, page 184Senior Tories might thus prefer to avoid a further public backlash over the loss of any of the BBC's channels. So, salami tactics are more likely than wholesale closures. BBC Four is likely to be stripped down and relaunched as an arts channel, making it a more direct competitor to BSkyB's Sky Arts.
2011 June 2, “And now for something completely different”, in The Economist
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Hungarianszalámitaktika
- Englishsalami tactics
Calque of Hungarian szalámitaktika, coined by Hungarian communist Mátyás Rákosi to describe the method, "cutting them off like slices of salami", by which the ruling Hungarian Working People's Party dealt with dissidents under his leadership.
More words from Hungarian
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 切香腸戰術 /切香肠战术
- 切香腸戰術 /切香肠战术 (qièxiāngcháng zhànshù)piecemeal removal
Danish salamitaktik
- salamitaktikpiecemeal removal
Finnish salamitaktiikka, viipalointitaktiikka
- salamitaktiikkapiecemeal removal
- viipalointitaktiikkapiecemeal removal
French saucissonnage, tactique du salami
- saucissonnagepiecemeal removal
- tactique du salamipiecemeal removal
German Salamitaktik
- Salamitaktikpiecemeal removal
Hungarian szalámitaktika
- szalámitaktikapiecemeal removal
Japanese サラミ戦術
- サラミ戦術 (sarami senjutsu)piecemeal removal
Norwegian Bokmål salamitaktikk
- salamitaktikkpiecemeal removal
Polish taktyka salami
- taktyka salamipiecemeal removal
Swedish salamitaktik
- salamitaktikpiecemeal removal
Vietnamese chiến thuật cắt lát salami
- chiến thuật cắt lát salamipiecemeal removal
Cite this entry
salami tactics. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salami%20tactics
“salami tactics.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salami%20tactics. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “salami tactics,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/salami%20tactics.
Source: salami tactics on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.