gamesmanship

Definition

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

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "They kept the other team waiting on the field until the last possible moment – that was a clear case of gamesmanship."
• "[Tina] Satter’s film, with its dramatization of the investigators’ formalized gamesmanship and [Reality] Winner’s strategic maneuvering, is fascinating but narrow, both regarding the protagonist and the law at large."

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