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
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Recent Examples of gamesmanship
She was cleared in each case and chalked up the allegations to political gamesmanship.
—
Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2025
And the gamesmanship’s already flowing.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 17 Oct. 2025
Roberts continued to roll his eyes at Murphy’s gamesmanship.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 14 Oct. 2025
The tale of Rip Van Winkle is nested within various layers of storytelling, to a degree that can be confounding even for contemporary readers accustomed to such authorial gamesmanship.
—John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gamesmanship
Aaron Leibowitz, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2025
And the gamesmanship’s already flowing.
—Luca Evans, Denver Post, 17 Oct. 2025
Roberts continued to roll his eyes at Murphy’s gamesmanship.
—Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 14 Oct. 2025
The tale of Rip Van Winkle is nested within various layers of storytelling, to a degree that can be confounding even for contemporary readers accustomed to such authorial gamesmanship.
—John Swansburg, The Atlantic, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gamesmanship
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gamesmanship
Noun
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Always one step ahead of the police, Fantomas is a master of deception and chaos.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
4 Nov. 2025
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The three-part docuseries that premiered this week chronicles how Rasmussen discovered Johnson’s deceptions and finally left him, only to be harassed by her ex after their divorce.—
Addie Morfoot,
Variety,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The story then unfolded through the subterfuge of the princess and the care of Morton.—
Simon Perry,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
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Unlike the confrontational drudgery of couples therapy — and aiming to avoid the confrontational finality of divorce — this approach relies on subterfuge.—
Sheri Linden,
HollywoodReporter,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The tale away from the playing field in recent years has been dizzying, one of soaring costs and debts, of quirks and chicanery unseen elsewhere.—
Chris Weatherspoon,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
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Another recurring feature of the biggest asset booms is outright chicanery, such as fraudulent accounting, the marketing of worthless securities, and plain old stealing.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Tarabay leads the cast as the titular Ashur, now thriving after his treachery.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
3 Nov. 2025
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And when the surviving crew interrogates the android Ash about his treachery, the book has him pretty much spill the space beans.—
Daniel Dockery,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Of course, the retort is that this would be irritating and exasperating to be continually deluged with alerts about AI deceptiveness.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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Watching the song’s polarizing music video, which uses digital trickery to reunite the surviving Beatles with their late mates, projected behind McCartney and his band on a massive screen is trippy, and hard for the brain to comprehend.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
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But there’s no trickery in those matches — the big ones are pay-per-view promoted events.—
Jeremy Herb,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The other one is the idea of political skullduggery going on in the background.—
Rick Porter,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Oct. 2025
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And though O’Neil, who has been inside, says the building itself is in no shape for skullduggery, that doesn’t mean said skullduggery isn’t happening elsewhere.—
A.K. Whitney,
Oc Register,
9 Sep. 2025
Noun
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There is a real seriousness to the score — the scheming bad-guy music has the artfulness of Prokofiev, and even the sneaking-around cues have musical integrity and structure.—
Tim Greiving,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gamesmanship.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gamesmanship. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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