Word.ws English Dictionary

number games

number games noun: a numbers game: the use of inappropriate statistics (numbers) to reflect a desired result (usually misleading). Also the plural of number game.

Noun

number games

  1. (idiomatic) A numbers game: the use of inappropriate statistics (numbers) to reflect a desired result (usually misleading).
    • This sounds like we are playing number games, and I wonder if 20000 megawatts is a realistic guess.1980, United States House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production, (transcript of the proceedings about the) Omnibus Geothermal Energy...
    • To many of their compatriots, politicians seem an innately frivolous breed. […] When they have to retire backstage, they spend their time playing number games, plotting new combinations, making and unmaking coalitions.2011, David Gilmour, The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples, page 389

Also used as

number games is also the plural of number game.

Questions about number games

What does number games mean?
Number games means a numbers game: the use of inappropriate statistics (numbers) to reflect a desired result (usually misleading).
What part of speech is number games?
Number games is a noun.

Words near number games in the dictionary

  1. number five
  2. number fives
  3. number four
  4. number fours
  5. number game
  6. number games
  7. number girl
  8. number girls
  9. number line
  10. number lines
  11. number needed to harm

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: number games (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-number games.ogg.

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