sport

[ spawrt, spohrt ]

/ spɔrt, spoʊrt /

noun

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.

a particular form of this, especially in the out of doors.

sports, (used with a singular verb) such athletic activities collectively: Sports is important in my life.

diversion; recreation; pleasant pastime.

jest; fun; mirth; pleasantry: What he said in sport was taken seriously.

mockery; ridicule; derision: They made sport of him.

an object of derision; laughingstock.

something treated lightly or tossed about like a plaything.

something or someone subject to the whims or vicissitudes of fate, circumstances, etc.

a sportsman.

Informal. a person who behaves in a sportsmanlike, fair, or admirable manner; an accommodating person: He was a sport and took his defeat well.

Informal. a person who is interested in sports as an occasion for gambling; gambler.

Informal. a flashy person; one who wears showy clothes, affects smart manners, pursues pleasurable pastimes, or the like; a bon vivant.

Biology. an organism or part that shows an unusual or singular deviation from the normal or parent type; mutation.

Obsolete. amorous dalliance.

adjective Also sports.

of, relating to, or used in sports or a particular sport:sport fishing.

suitable for outdoor or informal wear: sport clothes.

verb (used without object)

to amuse oneself with some pleasant pastime or recreation.

to play, frolic, or gambol, as a child or an animal.

to engage in some open-air or athletic pastime or sport.

to trifle or treat lightly: to sport with another's emotions.

to mock, scoff, or tease: to sport at suburban life.

Botany. to mutate.

verb (used with object)

to pass (time) in amusement or sport.

to spend or squander lightly or recklessly (often followed by away).

Informal. to wear, display, carry, etc., especially with ostentation; show off: to sport a new mink coat.

Archaic. to amuse (especially oneself).

Words nearby sport

sporotrichosis, sporozoa, sporozoan, sporozoite, sporran, sport, sport fish, sport shirt, sport utility vehicle, sport-utility vehicle, sporter

Idioms for sport

sport one's oak. oak(def 5).

Origin of sport

1350–1400; Middle English; aphetic variant of disport

SYNONYMS FOR sport

1 game.

4 amusement, fun, entertainment. See play.

19 romp, caper.

21 toy.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR sport ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM sport

sport·ful, adjectivesport·ful·ly, adverbsport·ful·ness, nounsport·less, adjective

out·sport, verb (used with object)un·sport·ed, adjectiveun·sport·ful, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for sported

Last year in San Diego, they sported bloody pants and angry signs.
Anti-Cutters Slam New CDC Recommendations on Circumcision|Nina Strochlic|December 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
You must now wear the same haircut & clothes you sported in junior high…forever.
#FixTheInternet: The Hashtag That Beat Back Kim Kardashian’s Butt|Emily Shire|November 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My prom date, Red, sported a wiry mustache and drove a black-and-gold Camaro.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Rednecks and Their Unjustly Unsung Kin|Allison Glock|August 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Last year, Watts, who was nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Impossible, sported a custom silver Armani gown.
Celebrity Stylists Dish About Dressing for the Oscars|Erin Cunningham|February 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Gone was the wounded look he sported during the weekend of the Super Bowl.
Christie Finally Finds a Crowd That Doesn’t Care About Bridgegate|Olivia Nuzzi|February 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The old man, though well stricken in years, sported a dark and heavy moustache.
John Leech, His Life and Work, Vol. II (of II)|William Powell Frith
Two of Pan's dryads turned loose for a holiday could not have sported more irrationally.
When Grandmamma Was New|Marion Harland
In a jaunty way, he sported his hat on one side of his head, and moved as proudly as if going off to a bargain of millions.
Fighting the Sea|Edward A. Rand
He sported a collection of diamonds that made him the envy and admiration of his colleagues.
Charles Frohman: Manager and Man|Isaac Frederick Marcosson and Daniel Frohman
The oak was sported, and they could hear him dragging some heavy chairs against it.
Lady Connie|Mrs. Humphry Ward

British Dictionary definitions for sported

sport

/ (spɔːt) /

noun

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

such activities considered collectively

any particular pastime indulged in for pleasure

the pleasure derived from a pastime, esp hunting, shooting, or fishingwe had good sport today

playful or good-humoured jokingto say a thing in sport

derisive mockery or the object of such mockeryto make sport of someone

someone or something that is controlled by external influencesthe sport of fate

informal (sometimes qualified by good, bad, etc) a person who reacts cheerfully in the face of adversity, esp a good loser

informal a person noted for being scrupulously fair and abiding by the rules of a game

informal a person who leads a merry existence, esp a gamblerhe's a bit of a sport

Australian and NZ informal a form of address used esp between males

biology

an animal or plant that differs conspicuously in one or more aspects from other organisms of the same species, usually because of a mutation
an anomalous characteristic of such an organism

verb

(tr) informal to wear or display in an ostentatious or proud mannershe was sporting a new hat

(intr) to skip about or frolic happily

to amuse (oneself), esp in outdoor physical recreation

(intr often foll by with) to dally or trifle (with)

(tr often foll by away) rare to squander (time or money)sporting one's life away

(intr often foll by with) archaic to make fun (of)

(intr) biology to produce or undergo a mutation

Derived forms of sport

sporter, nounsportful, adjectivesportfully, adverbsportfulness, noun

Word Origin for sport

C15 sporten, variant of disporten to disport

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

sport

noun

adjective Also sports.

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

Words related to sport

Words nearby sport

Idioms for sport

Origin of sport

SYNONYMS FOR sport

OTHER WORDS FROM sport

Examples from the Web for sported

British Dictionary definitions for sported

noun

verb

Derived forms of sport

Word Origin for sport