headgame

headgame noun: an attempt to psychologically manipulate. Also the alternative form of head-game.

Noun

headgame (plural headgames)

An attempt to psychologically manipulate
- To celebrate literature which is headgame, to banish the heart's journey from the page, to lead into retreat that which Faulkner called Literature's sole concern, the heart in conflict with itself, does not save lives or bring the news or alter by even a syllable a culture's top-40 or next...1990, Giovanni Dotoli, Giovanni Bonanno, Canada ieri e oggi 2
- And that whole long story about Zach — that was just some kind of headgame?"1999 -, Alex Matthews, Wanton's Web, →ISBN, page 245
A mental pursuit
- Bloch's utopia is not More's headgame. It is real.2003, Science-fiction Studies - Volume 30, Issue 2, page 301
- It does not win its game with anyone: not with the artists who resent it; nor with social thinkers who look down on its headgame of words, sounds, and minute particulars; nor with activists who believe in proving arguments and converting minds by intellectual or other means.2007, Geoffrey H. Hartman, Criticism in the Wilderness: The Study of Literature Today, →ISBN, page 84

headgame is also the alternative form of head-game.

Noun
plural	headgames
Verb
third-person singular present	headgames
present participle	headgaming
past participle	headgamed
past	headgamed

What does headgame mean?: Headgame means an attempt to psychologically manipulate.
What part of speech is headgame?: Headgame is a noun.
What is the plural of headgame?: The plural of headgame is headgames.

Adapted from Wiktionary: headgame (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: “headgame.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/headgame. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.