gamesmanship

noun

games·man·ship ˈgāmz-mən-ˌship

Synonyms of gamesmanship next

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

: the use of ethically dubious methods to gain an objective

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

After the game, Roberts indicated there was no gamesmanship intended in that answer. —

Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 18 Oct. 2024 The juxtaposition of the two worlds, one of which had been grazing horses in this area of the steppe for millennia, the other of which had, in a moment of daring and gamesmanship, started launching people into the cosmos with rockets meant to annihilate humanity, filled McConnell with wonder. —

Keith Gessen, The New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2024 Advertisement After the Dodgers won the series, Roberts admitted his comments about Machado might have been a bit of gamesmanship to motivate his players. —

Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2024 Despite that importance, the threat of political gamesmanship is high. —

Doug Criscitello, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for gamesmanship

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

Time Traveler

The first known use of gamesmanship was in 1947

See more words from the same year