Clutch
what it means
A clutch play is defined by the stakes, not the difficulty. The same shot in a casual match isn't clutch; in the final round, it is.
Winning a critical moment under maximum pressure, often against the odds.
the origin story
American sports vocabulary for performing under pressure, adopted wholesale by competitive gaming.
Esports gave it precise usage — "clutching a 1v5" means winning alone against five opponents. It's one of the few pieces of sports vocabulary that gaming made more specific rather than looser.
in the wild
Last round, one health, and he won it.
Absolute clutch.
She fixed the presentation four minutes before it started.
Clutch.
how to use it
- Praising performance under pressure
- Gaming and sports contexts
- Casual conversation
- For good performance without stakes
- In its other senses, which are unrelated
- Professionally without context
related terms
receipts
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