sport
Americannoun
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sports
plural
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an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.
- Synonyms:
- game
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a particular form of this, especially in the out of doors.
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(used with a singular verb) sports, such athletic activities collectively.
Sports is important in my life.
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diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.
- Synonyms:
- entertainment, fun, amusement
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jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry.
What he said in sport was taken seriously.
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mockery; ridicule; derision.
They made sport of him.
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an object of derision; laughingstock.
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something treated lightly or tossed about like a plaything.
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something or someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc.
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a sportsman.
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Informal. a person who behaves in a sportsmanlike, fair, or admirable manner; an accommodating person.
He was a sport and took his defeat well.
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Informal. a person who is interested in sports as an occasion for gambling; gambler.
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Informal. a flashy person; one who wears showy clothes, affects smart manners, pursues pleasurable pastimes, or the like; a bon vivant.
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Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation.
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Obsolete. amorous dalliance.
adjective
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of, relating to, or used in sports or a particular sport.
sport fishing.
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suitable for outdoor or informal wear.
sport clothes.
verb (used without object)
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sports,
present (3rd person singular)
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sported,
past participle, past
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sporting
present participle
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to amuse oneself with some pleasant pastime or recreation.
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to play, frolic, or gambol, as a child or an animal.
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to engage in some open-air or athletic pastime or sport.
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to trifle or treat lightly.
to sport with another's emotions.
- Synonyms:
- toy
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to mock, scoff, or tease.
to sport at suburban life.
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Biology. mutate.
verb (used with object)
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sports,
present (3rd person singular)
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sported,
past participle, past
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sporting
present participle
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to pass (time) in amusement or sport.
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to spend or squander lightly or recklessly (often followed byaway ).
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Informal. to wear, display, carry, etc., especially with ostentation.
Celebs are frequently seen sporting a wide array of designer handbags.
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Archaic. to amuse (especially oneself ).
idioms
noun
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an individual or group activity pursued for exercise or pleasure, often involving the testing of physical capabilities and taking the form of a competitive game such as football, tennis, etc
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such activities considered collectively
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any particular pastime indulged in for pleasure
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the pleasure derived from a pastime, esp hunting, shooting, or fishing
we had good sport today
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playful or good-humoured joking
to say a thing in sport
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derisive mockery or the object of such mockery
to make sport of someone
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someone or something that is controlled by external influences
the sport of fate
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informal a person who reacts cheerfully in the face of adversity, esp a good loser
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informal a person noted for being scrupulously fair and abiding by the rules of a game
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informal a person who leads a merry existence, esp a gambler
he's a bit of a sport
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informal a form of address used esp between males
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biology
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an animal or plant that differs conspicuously in one or more aspects from other organisms of the same species, usually because of a mutation
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an anomalous characteristic of such an organism
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verb
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informal (tr) to wear or display in an ostentatious or proud manner
she was sporting a new hat
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(intr) to skip about or frolic happily
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to amuse (oneself), esp in outdoor physical recreation
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to dally or trifle (with)
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rare to squander (time or money)
sporting one's life away
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archaic to make fun (of)
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(intr) biology to produce or undergo a mutation
Synonym Usage
See play .
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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sporternoun
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sportfulnessnoun
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outsportverb (used with object)
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sportfuladjective
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sportlessadjective
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unsportedadjective
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unsportfuladjective
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sportfullyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sportsimple
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sportssimple
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have sportedperfect
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has sportedperfect
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am sportingprogressive
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are sportingprogressive
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is sportingprogressive
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have been sportingperfect progressive
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has been sportingperfect progressive
Past
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sportedsimple
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had sportedperfect
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was sportingprogressive
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were sportingprogressive
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had been sportingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sport
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; aphetic variant of disport
Explanation
Sport has many definitions, the most familiar of which is a game involving physical exertion — think tennis or hockey. Randomly, sport can also mean to wear, as in, "he looked sharp sporting a yellow sport coat." Most of the definitions of sport involve the idea of fun, or of something being fair. Hopefully organized sports are both. A sporting chance means a player in a game has a fair chance of winning. A good sport is someone who plays fair, and wins and loses graciously. If you torture flies for sport, you do it for fun, and that's just wrong. If you make sport of your little sister's stutter, you make fun of it, and that's even worse.
Vocabulary lists containing sport
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Signees would do jazz hands about growing the game and “reshaping” the sport, but please.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
“Building a global platform designed to bring new, younger, and more diverse fans to the sport of golf has been the round of a lifetime for all of us,” O’Neil said in a statement Thursday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
St. Monica’s success shows how schools new to a sport can get up and running fast with organization and participation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026
As things stand, the sport is pressing ahead with plans to go to those races after being given security reassurances from various governmental sources that it should be safe.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Our parents provide the list of ingredients and remind us to make healthy choices: one sport, two clubs, one artistic goal, community service, no grades below a B, because really, nobody’s average, not around here.
From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson
Garza, a former math professor, looks at the sheer number of students at the school today and is willing to admit even he miscalculated just how much the visibility of the sports teams would do.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Did your local sports radio ranter bother to rant about the subpar season of the Cleeks?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
The Davis Cup, for example, has an official sports betting partner, while in August self-described "prediction-market platform" Kalshi signed a multi-year deal with the US Open.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026
Her athleticism has been helpful to three JSerra sports teams and won’t be forgotten.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2026
He had one blue sports coat, for funerals.”
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Others have embraced it: Hailey Bieber wore the label with pride when she sported a white crop top emblazoned with “nepo baby” in 2023.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
In the second quarter, the company sported postpaid average revenue per account of $152.91, making for 2% year-over-year growth.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
Dressed in svelte black athleisure with a close-cropped haircut, the 28-year-old Lacy was less flamboyant than he’d looked in recent years, when he sported long braids and sunglasses that covered half his head.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
A black leather jacket sported by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang sold for $960,000 at a New York auction on Friday, 16 times higher than the estimated value of $60,000, according to Sotheby's.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
Nikita Khrushchev walked up in his baggy business suit with his wife, Nina, who sported a dark silk dress.
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
"It's one of the most exciting and encouraging things I've ever seen in my life," declared Jack Frick, sporting shades, a bushy white mustache and a black cowboy hat.
From Barron's ● Nov. 4, 2026
El-Sayed ran a social media-first campaign, with TikTok edits showing him speaking directly to young voters, tapping into Gen Z humour, and sporting friendship bracelets.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2026
FSG has already been part of a major sporting turnaround outside the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
"Outside the sporting arena she is the most inspirational, humble person we have ever had within our club," he said.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
But I got a trophy—the first I’d ever received for a genuine sporting achievement.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
