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Synonyms

play fair

Idioms  

  1. Behave honestly and honorably, obey the rules, as in Not every supplier we deal with plays fair, or We can't just leave them to find their own way back—that's not playing fair. Although this idiom conjures up playing by the rules in some game or sport, it actually has been used in this figurative way since the mid-1400s. Also see play the game.

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.

Do McLaren have to face the truth of F1 now - that if you want to win, you can't always play fair?

From BBC • Oct. 21, 2025

Her father’s second-in-command, the handsome Jack Dean, insists family members play fair in obeying their father’s will.

From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2025

“Things like that just don’t play fair in our mind.”

From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2023

Its job is to figure out how much cost companies that supply energy to households can pass along to consumers, while ensuring that the companies play fair.

From New York Times • Aug. 26, 2022

They must play fair with one another; there’s not enough to cheat with.

From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin

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.