What does "gamesmanship" mean?

The use of legal but unsporting tactics to gain an advantage over one’s opponent.

What is a synonym for "gamesmanship"?

Common synonyms include: acuteness, art, artfulness, artifice, astuteness, cageyness.

noun

noun ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
The use of legal but unsporting tactics to gain an advantage over one’s opponent. countable, uncountable
"They kept the other team waiting on the field until the last possible moment – that was a clear case of gamesmanship."
2
the use of dubious (although not technically illegal) methods to win a game wordnet

"They kept the other team waiting on the field until the last possible moment – that was a clear case of gamesmanship."

From game + -s- + -manship or gamesman + -ship.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.