Idiom idiom
shotgun approach
Meaning
An approach in which the subject is indiscriminate and haphazard, using breadth, spread, or quantity in lieu of accuracy, planning, etc.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Using a shotgun approach to job hunting rarely works well.”
“The marketing team used a shotgun approach, sending emails to thousands of people who were not interested in our product.”
“Rather than refining his research to target specific demographics, the professor employed a shotgun approach, gathering vast amounts of data in hopes that something significant would emerge.”
Anchors to
Last updated August 10, 2026