Word.ws English Dictionary

moves the goalposts

moves the goalposts is the third-person singular simple present indicative of move the goalposts.

Meaning of move the goalposts

Verb

move the goalposts (third-person singular simple present moves the goalposts, present participle moving the goalposts, simple past and past participle moved the goalposts)

  1. (idiomatic) To alter the terms of an agreement or an agreed target, or the rules of a negotiation while it is ongoing, especially in an unfair way.
    • This is a Government that meets its economic targets and does not move the goalposts.
    Synonyms:
    change the goal posts, shift the goalposts

Questions about moves the goalposts

What is moves the goalposts the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Moves the goalposts is the third-person singular simple present indicative of move the goalposts.

Words near moves the goalposts in the dictionary

  1. moves someone to tears
  2. moves south
  3. moves the deckchairs on the Titanic
  4. moves the dial
  5. moves the goal posts
  6. moves the goalposts
  7. moves the needle
  8. moves the problem
  9. moves the yardsticks
  10. moves through the gears
  11. moves to

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: moves the goalposts (page history and authors); move the goalposts (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.

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