one-upmanship

[ wuhn-uhp-muhn-ship ]
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noun
  1. the art or practice of achieving, demonstrating, or assuming superiority in one's rivalry with a friend or opponent by obtaining privilege, status, status symbols, etc.: the one-upmanship of getting into the president's car pool.

Origin of one-upmanship

1
First recorded in 1950–55; one up + -manship
  • Also one-ups·man·ship [wuhn-uhps-muhn-ship]. /ˈwʌnˈʌps mənˌʃɪp/.

Words Nearby one-upmanship

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How to use one-upmanship in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for one-upmanship

one-upmanship

/ (wʌnˈʌpmənʃɪp) /


noun
  1. informal the art or practice of achieving or maintaining an advantage over others, often by slightly unscrupulous means

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012