Standard Lemma guide

one-upmanship

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /(ˌ)wʌnˈʌpmənʃɪp/
  • General-American: /wənˈəpmənˌʃɪp/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: W AH2 N AH1 P M AH0 N SH IH2 P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The art or practice of successively outdoing a competitor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • They are focused on one-upmanship, which is the essence of a competitive spirit.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A succession of instances of outdoing a competitor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

the practice of keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: practice, pattern

History

Etymology

From one-up + -manship, probably modelled after gamesmanship.

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: přečurávaní — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Czech: snaha prosadit se na úkor ostatních — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • French: course à l'échalote — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • French: surenchère — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Galician: rivalidade — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Galician: emulación — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Hungarian: törtetés — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Hungarian: versengés — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Hungarian: kivagyiság — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Hungarian: felülkerekedni akarás — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Polish: przewyższenie konkurencji — art or practice of outdoing an opponent
  • Swedish: konsten att platta till — art or practice of outdoing an opponent