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 of gamesmanship

• deception
• subterfuge
• chicanery
• treachery
• deceptiveness
• trickery
• skulduggery
• artfulness
• jugglery
• secrecy
• cunning

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

Some of that gamesmanship occurred when former Orange County Superior Court Judge Israel Claustro tried to profit from the SIBTF program by forming a company to write and submit medical reports for applicants. — Tony Saavedra, Oc Register, 16 July 2026

The Manchester City star is fully back to his 2024 Ballon d’Or-winning self, marshaling the middle, providing amazing connection between the front and back and even annoying the French players with some gamesmanship near the end. — Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 14 July 2026

For 70 minutes, Paraguay had played with corseted restraint, frustrating France with organisation, concentration and no little gamesmanship. — Adam Crafton, New York Times, 5 July 2026

Gerry was not alone among the Founders in opposing such political gamesmanship. — Frederic J. Fransen, Boston Herald, 9 June 2026

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