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

Maybe Brown kept the pick-and-rolls, the dribble hand-offs, the give-and-go actions tucked as a form of gamesmanship so as to not tip his hand entering the playoffs. —Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 10 Apr. 2026

Eastern New Mexico residents harbor legitimate grievances about feeling estranged from their state government and the Democratic leadership in Santa Fe, suggesting the underlying regional sentiment reflects authentic frustration with political representation rather than mere partisan gamesmanship. —Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026

In some possible gamesmanship, South Carolina will start junior right-hander Nealy Lamb. —Thomas Jones, Austin American Statesman, 6 Mar. 2026

Speaking of which… How might the gerrymandering gamesmanship between the parties play out in the fall? —Ian Crouch, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 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