one-upmanship
noun
one-up·man·ship
ˌwən-ˈəp-mən-ˌship 
variants
or less commonly one-upsmanship
: the art or practice of outdoing or keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor
engaged in a round of verbal one-upmanship
Examples of one-upmanship in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
There is a constant need to upgrade their facilities, in the silent race for prestige and primacy of which the constant prize money one-upmanship is just one element.
—
Matthew Futterman, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
In space, a previous gentleman’s agreement on warfare no longer holds sway, while there is a constant fight for one-upmanship in the Arctic and in the race to dominate critical minerals.
—Washington Examiner Staff, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 9 Jan. 2025
Do your best not to become overwhelmed by the one-upmanship that sometimes occurs during the holiday season.
—Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2024
Biden and Trump have been engaging in a game of one-upmanship over pardons, with both sides arguing the pardons are warranted because the other side is weaponizing the justice system to target the political opposition.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 9 Dec. 2024
Vivek Pandya, lead digital analyst, adobe The recent AirPods discounting one-upmanship came just a month after Amazon’s Prime Big Deals Day — during what’s usually a quieter period between that October event and Black Friday in late November.
—Maya Huter, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2024
There was a tendency in the local scene toward one-upmanship in terms of how many cylinders a builder could wedge into these machines, and at some point Whitelock decided to take the idea to its logical conclusion and end the arms race once and for all.
—New Atlas, 4 Nov. 2024
His carryings-on are not misplaced exactly, but there’s an air of one-upmanship at work, too.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 Oct. 2024
The falling out between Musk and OpenAI has evolved into a stiff game of one-upmanship.
—Kylie Robison, The Verge, 3 Oct. 2024
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Matthew Futterman, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
In space, a previous gentleman’s agreement on warfare no longer holds sway, while there is a constant fight for one-upmanship in the Arctic and in the race to dominate critical minerals.
—Washington Examiner Staff, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 9 Jan. 2025
Do your best not to become overwhelmed by the one-upmanship that sometimes occurs during the holiday season.
—Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2024
Biden and Trump have been engaging in a game of one-upmanship over pardons, with both sides arguing the pardons are warranted because the other side is weaponizing the justice system to target the political opposition.
—Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 9 Dec. 2024
Vivek Pandya, lead digital analyst, adobe The recent AirPods discounting one-upmanship came just a month after Amazon’s Prime Big Deals Day — during what’s usually a quieter period between that October event and Black Friday in late November.
—Maya Huter, NBC News, 19 Nov. 2024
There was a tendency in the local scene toward one-upmanship in terms of how many cylinders a builder could wedge into these machines, and at some point Whitelock decided to take the idea to its logical conclusion and end the arms race once and for all.
—New Atlas, 4 Nov. 2024
His carryings-on are not misplaced exactly, but there’s an air of one-upmanship at work, too.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 Oct. 2024
The falling out between Musk and OpenAI has evolved into a stiff game of one-upmanship.
—Kylie Robison, The Verge, 3 Oct. 2024
Articles Related to one-upmanship
Dictionary Entries Near one-upmanship
Cite this Entry
“One-upmanship.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/one-upmanship. Accessed 18 Jan. 2025.
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