The term was first used in the title of a book by Stephen Potter, published in 1952 as a follow-up to The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship (or the Art of Winning Games without Actually Cheating) (1947), and Lifemanship titles in his series of tongue-in-cheek self-help books, and film and television derivatives, that ...

What is the meaning one-upmanship?

: the art or practice of outdoing or keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor engaged in a round of verbal one-upmanship.

What causes upmanship?

Oneupmanship can be born from all kinds of inner struggles. “Sometimes it's rivalry, low self-esteem masked by bravado, an actual problem with lying or just having an awkward social presence,” Rutherford explained.