noun
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track and field events
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( as modifier )
an athletics meeting
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sports or exercises engaged in by athletes
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the theory or practice of athletic activities and training
Pronunciation
See athlete.
Etymology
Origin of athletics
Explanation
Use the noun athletics to talk about sports, including team practice, games, and training. A serious baseball player might choose a college based on its athletics program. In Britain, the word athletics specifically refers to track and field competitions, such as long-distance running, high jump, and javelin. In the US, you can use the word to talk about any kind of sporty activity. The noun athletics comes from the adjective athletic, based on the model of gymnastics. The Greek root is athletes, "prizefighter" or "contestant in the games."
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.
No matter: The Dodgers boosted their division lead to 11 games Monday, with a 9-4 victory over the Athletics.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
Teoscar Hernández is slated to play in a rehab assignment Tuesday with the triple-A Oklahoma City Comets before joining the team for its final June series against the Athletics.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 21, 2026
Badain is president of the Athletics, the Major League Baseball team building a new stadium on the Strip, scheduled to open in 2028.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
He believes this took place at a baseball game in California in 1981 between the Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees.
From BBC • Jun. 7, 2026
“The East Shoal Recreational Athletics Support Club. It’s just the sort of obnoxious name he’d pick.”
From "Made You Up" by Francesca Zappia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
