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spectator sport

American

noun

any sport that can be watched by spectators, as football or basketball, usually for a fee.

spectator sport British

noun

a sport that attracts more people as spectators than as participants

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of spectator sport

First recorded in 1940–45

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.

In-person attendance has been strictly limited throughout the trial because of Covid-19, with one spectator seat reserved for each side.

From New York Times • Apr. 19, 2021

She sat, expressionless, in a front-row spectator seat.

From Reuters • Nov. 7, 2013

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023