hat-trick
4 synonyms and 0 antonyms 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.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
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.”
How to use hat-trick
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
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.