Synonyms of gamesmanship

gamesmanship

noun

ˈgāmz-mən-ˌship 

as in deception

the use of clever underhanded actions to achieve an end

that author doesn't go in for literary gamesmanship, so the reader is never led astray by the novel's narrator

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deception
• subterfuge
• chicanery
• treachery
• deceptiveness
• trickery
• skulduggery
• artfulness
• jugglery
• secrecy
• cunning
• deceit
• stealth
• chicane
• scheming
• legerdemain
• hanky-panky
• jiggery-pokery
• artifice
• plotting
• wile
• deceitfulness
• underhandedness
• deviousness
• duplicity
• shrewdness
• hypocrisy
• sneakiness
• dishonesty
• slipperiness
• insincerity
• shiftiness
• slyness
• double-dealing
• shadiness
• craftiness
• fakery
• slickness
• crookedness
• wiliness
• design
• dissimulation
• guile
• caginess
• oiliness
• quackery
• crookery
• sharpness
• humbuggery
• imposture
• dupery
• foxiness
• dirty pool
• dirty tricks
• guilefulness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sincerity
• artlessness
• forthrightness
• ingenuousness
• guilelessness
• candor
• directness
• openness
• plainness
• candidness
• plainspokenness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of gamesmanship

In some ways, that depends on whether the agent eventually learns guile, and social gamesmanship, or not. — John Werner, Forbes.com, 21 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