gamesmanship

noun

games·​man·​ship ˈgāmz-mən-ˌship 

1

: the art or practice of winning games by questionable expedients without actually violating the rules

2

: the use of ethically dubious methods to gain an objective

Synonyms

• artifice
• chicane
• chicanery
• hanky-panky
• jiggery-pokery
• jugglery
• legerdemain
• skulduggery
• skullduggery
• subterfuge
• trickery
• wile

Examples of gamesmanship in a Sentence

They blur the line between gamesmanship and cheating.

that author doesn't go in for literary gamesmanship, so the reader is never led astray by the novel's narrator

Recent Examples on the Web

Lukashenko's support for the war in Ukraine has led to the rupture of Belarus' ties with the U.S. and the EU, ending his gamesmanship of using the West to try to win more subsidies from the Kremlin. —CBS News, 26 Jan. 2025

Or, Newsom could walk away more vulnerable to criticism that his political gamesmanship and thirst for the national spotlight compromised his ability to deliver for Californians. —Taryn Luna, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2025

Poole and the Warriors displayed some gamesmanship throughout the night. —Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2025

That Whitt showed vanilla coverage in the preseason might be a bit of gamesmanship, and Forbes impressed Quinn in the joint practice and preseason game against the Miami Dolphins. —Ben Standig, The Athletic, 26 Aug. 2024

Word History

Etymology

games, plural of game entry 1 + -manship (after sportsmanship)

Note: A word popularized and probably originated in this sense by the British author Stephen Potter (1900-69) in The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (1947).

First Known Use

1947, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gamesmanship

• apostleship
• apprenticeship
• assistantship
• championship
• chancellorship
• citizenship
• companionship
• copartnership
• dictatorship
• directorship
• discipleship
• editorship