head-game

head-game noun: an attempt to psychologically manipulate.

Noun

head-game (plural head-games)

An attempt to psychologically manipulate.
- They wanted him, he knew that, but they wanted to play head-games all the time.2012, K. B. Forrest, The Impossible Promise, →ISBN, page 82
- Some guy's you play with, beat you every time, no matter what you do you simply can't win. Others, you're just that much better than they are, but it doesn't matter, you fit right, the games flow, no head-games and you enjoy every minute.2012, Michael DiGiantommaso, Tennis Shenanigans and Booya Sandwiches, →ISBN
A mental pursuit
- That is the problem with the “What if” head-game. It is played and replayed, again and again in one's head, but there is actually no solution that one would like to see.2014, T.S. Bola, One Bad Night in Mexico, →ISBN

head-game (third-person singular simple present head-games, present participle head-gaming, simple past and past participle head-gamed)

To psychologically manipulate; to gaslight.
- Billie was still being persistently head-gamed by the male clientele.2000, Fiona Giles, Chick for a Day: What Would You Do If You Were One?, page 66
- In the cab back downtown,the one thing I head-gamed myself about was Jessica's sexual history.2001, Howard Roughan, The Up and Comer, →ISBN

Noun
plural	head-games
Verb
third-person singular present	head-games
present participle	head-gaming
past participle	head-gamed
past	head-gamed

What does head-game mean?: Head-game means an attempt to psychologically manipulate.
What part of speech is head-game?: Head-game can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of head-game?: The plural of head-game is head-games.

Adapted from Wiktionary: head-game (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “head-game.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/head-game. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.