relating to or concerned with strategy
"strategic weapon"
"the islands are of strategic importance"
"strategic considerations"
highly important to or an integral part of a strategy or plan of action especially in war
"a strategic chess move"
"strategic withdrawal"
"strategic bombing missions"
of or pertaining to strategy
"The general's strategic plan involved a surprise attack at dawn to catch the enemy off guard."
In plain English: Strategic means planned carefully to achieve a specific goal.
"The company decided to open a new store in a strategic location near the subway station."
Usage: Use strategic when describing plans that involve careful, long-term thinking designed to achieve specific goals, rather than just any clever approach. This term is often confused with tactical, which refers only to short-term actions taken within a broader plan.
The word strategic comes from the Ancient Greek term for "of or for a general," which originally described someone who led an army. It traveled into English through Latin and French to describe plans that are carefully calculated to achieve military or other goals.