cheap shot

noun

a covert, unsportsmanlike, and illegal act of deliberate roughness, especially in football, often calculated to injure an opponent.

any mean or unsportsmanlike remark or action, especially one directed at a defenseless or vulnerable person.

Examples from the web for cheap shot

But with the goal of understanding, not taking the cheap shot.
Some have tried to take a cheap shot at that by saying it is numerology.
But that would be too easy, and a cheap shot to boot.
It was a cheap shot, and it's important to set the record straight.
The so-called vote of no confidence amounted to only a cheap shot against the chief.
But you also knew he'd never belittle you, he'd never take a cheap shot.
Its a rather cheap shot to lie about what someone said and then use your own fabrication as proof the other guys is lying.
It is an easy, simplistic cheap shot to blame immigrants for all of these.

Slang definitions & phrases for cheap shot

cheap shot

modifier

: some dirtymouth comedian who made cheap-shot race jokes

noun phrase

(also shot) A malicious insult or action; something crude, underhanded, and damaging: Well, the race for governor isn't a festival of cheap shots/ Keenan shouted, ''Didn't you just take what is known as a cheap shot?''

verb phrase

: He'd say ''Hey, don't cheap shot my son''/ If a person's going to cheapshot me, it just shows how low he is (1960s+ Sports)

Idioms and Phrases with cheap shot

cheap shot

An unfair or unsporting verbal attack, as in You called him an amateur? That's really taking a cheap shot. The term originated in sports, especially American football, where it signifies deliberate roughness against an unprepared opponent. [ ; second half of 1900s ]