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

Contract disputes, regulatory delays and political gamesmanship have choked off investment in transmission and generation. —Dan Eberhart, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025

Or maybe — just maybe — there’s some gamesmanship at play. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 10 Apr. 2025

Speaking of middle fingers, Amanda Anisimova felt compelled to show hers to Mirra Andreeva after their match on Sunday night following what appeared to be accusations of gamesmanship from the Russian towards her opponent. —Charlie Eccleshare, The Athletic, 24 Mar. 2025

Psychologist Susan Cain, in Quiet, says introverts thrive in solitude, delivering their best work without the social stimulus overload of open offices and needing to play political gamesmanship. —Jack Kelly, Forbes.com, 9 Apr. 2025

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