gamesmanship

[ geymz-muhn-ship ]

/ ˈgeɪmz mənˌʃɪp /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for gamesmanship on Thesaurus.com

noun

the use of methods, especially in a sports contest, that are dubious or seemingly improper but not strictly illegal.

the technique or practice of manipulating people or events so as to gain an advantage or outwit one's opponents or competitors.

QUIZ

ALL IN FAVO(U)R OF THIS BRITISH VS. AMERICAN ENGLISH QUIZ

There's an ocean of difference between the way people speak English in the US vs. the UK. Are your language skills up to the task of telling the difference? Let's find out!

Question 1 of 7

True or false? British English and American English are only different when it comes to slang words.

true

false

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of gamesmanship

1945–50; game¹ + -s³ + -manship, perhaps on the model of sportsmanship

Words nearby gamesmanship

gamer girl, game room, games console, game show, gamesman, gamesmanship, gamesome, gamester, gamet-, gametangium, gamete

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use gamesmanship in a sentence

As Bannon acknowledges, this proposal could still be vulnerable to gamesmanship.
4 ideas for Supreme Court reform|Aaron Blake|April 15, 2021|Washington Post
Election Profit Makers allows a touch of that gamesmanship back in — and it’s a welcome break from the grief and exhaustion many people are experiencing after an election cycle that feels like it’s lasted 1,500 days.
The Election Podcast Trying to Get Everyone to Stop Listening|Fiona Zublin|October 29, 2020|Ozy
He was sent off after the incident, but Ghana went on to lose, in large part due to his gamesmanship.
Luis Suarez, Uruguay’s Notorious Soccer Vampire, Strikes Again—Biting Italian in World Cup Win|Tunku Varadarajan|June 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It was campaign spin and gamesmanship and seemed to be understood by everyone as such.
When Campaign Spin Becomes Fact|Stuart Stevens|March 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST

All of this is just gamesmanship, but it matters for the purposes of the next debate.
Obama on Benghazi|Michael Tomasky|October 17, 2012|DAILY BEAST
It was another element in the gamesmanship between the sexes.
Helen Gurley Brown’s Fashion Sense: the Power of Cleavage|Robin Givhan|August 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
I think we are involved more in political gamesmanship than in getting them the information they say they want.
White House Uses Executive Privilege on ‘Fast and Furious’ Documents|Patricia Murphy|June 20, 2012|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for gamesmanship

gamesmanship

/ (ˈɡeɪmzmənˌʃɪp) /

noun

informal the art of winning games or defeating opponents by clever or cunning practices without actually cheating

Derived forms of gamesmanship

gamesman, noun

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

gamesmanship

Origin of gamesmanship

Words nearby gamesmanship

Words related to gamesmanship

How to use gamesmanship in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for gamesmanship

Derived forms of gamesmanship