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

Finland and Sweden, both of which had tried for decades to steer clear of superpower gamesmanship, joined NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. —Josh Holder, New York Times, 28 Mar. 2025

On Monday, the D.C. Circuit ended his gamesmanship, ruling decisively against his reinstatement by the lower court. —Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 12 Mar. 2025

In turn, The Comfort of Strangers is a defiantly odd film, one that presents a respectable veneer only to shed it in favor of psychosexual gamesmanship. —Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 21 Jan. 2025

The gamesmanship was high, with fan-favorites including Amanda Kimmel, James Clement, Courtney Yates and even former WWE wrestler Ashley Massaro. —Skyler Trepel, People.com, 25 Feb. 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