hat-trick

4 synonyms for hat-trick, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — Three goals scored by the same player in a single match, especially in football or hockey.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

triple

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

treble

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

three-goal haul threepeat

Synonyms by Meaning

1. noun

Three goals scored by the same player in a single match, especially in football or hockey.

“She scored a hat-trick inside twenty minutes.”

treble three-goal haul

2. noun

Any set of three successes achieved in a row by the same person or team.

“The film completed a hat-trick of awards on the night.”

treble triple threepeat

How to use hat-trick

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

score a hat-trick complete a hat-trick perfect hat-trick hat-trick of wins

Written hat-trick in British English and often hat trick in American English. In football a perfect hat-trick means one with the left foot, the right foot and the head.

Etymology

From nineteenth-century cricket, where a bowler who dismissed three batsmen with successive balls was traditionally presented with a hat.

Full origin of hat-trick →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a hat-trick and a treble?

In scoring they are interchangeable for three goals. In club football, though, the Treble specifically means a team winning three major trophies in one season, so a hat-trick belongs to a player and a treble usually to a side.

Do the three goals have to be consecutive?

In modern football, no — any three goals by the same player in one match count, even with opposition goals in between. In cricket the definition is strict: the three wickets must come from three consecutive deliveries by that bowler.

People also searched

triple treble threepeat

Nearby words

← Back to the full definition of hat-trick