one-upmanship

American  

[wuhn-uhp-muhn-ship] / ˈwʌnˈʌp mənˌʃɪp /

Also one-upsmanship

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.

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oneˈ-upmanship British  

/ wʌnˈʌpmənʃɪp /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of one-upmanship

First recorded in 1950–55; one up + -manship

Example Sentences

That kind of provocative behavior will lead to years, even a lifetime, of one-upmanship, backbiting and behind-the-scenes maneuvers.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 3, 2025

The resulting game of financial one-upmanship has tied the fates of the world’s biggest semiconductor and cloud companies—and vast swaths of the U.S. economy—to OpenAI, essentially making it too big to fail.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025

Jason, who was capped for England, jokingly replied: "It’s always like one-upmanship on who can get hurt the worst."

From BBC • Sep. 2, 2024

A mini succession drama unfolds, but like the HBO series on the subject, it’s impossible to separate corporate one-upmanship from family dysfunction.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 16, 2024

I laughed at the thought of Mrs. Dorn keeping a tally of everything her neighbors purchased, and tried not to be jealous that Audrey got a car because of a game of wealthy one-upmanship.

From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson

Related Words

• gamesmanship