sporting 1 of 2

noun

Definition of sportingnext
as in sportiveness

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sporting

2 of 2

verb

present participle of sport
1
as in playing
to engage in activity for amusement from sailing to snorkeling, each day we sported at a different activity offered by the beach resort

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dancing
to play and run about happily the millionaire's grandchildren sporting on the estate's spacious grounds

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in displaying
to present so as to invite notice or attention sported his flashy new car by driving it all over town

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sporting
Noun
Basketball and baseball were his sporting passions growing up in New York, before embarking on a 40-year career in the aviation industry. — Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026 The Beam family was at Raimondi Park sporting shirts with artwork of their beloved dad, husband, brother and grandfather. — Andrea Nakano, CBS News, 13 Aug. 2026 Tributes poured in from the wider sporting community with Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Luka Modrić and Carlos Alcaraz all commenting on Messi’s post. — Gonzalo Zegarra, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026 But this week became the biggest sign yet that these businesses are intent on increasing their investments into preeminent sporting organizations. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 12 Aug. 2026 For a few weeks, the tournament became more than a sporting event. — Ana Valdez, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026 Hugh is murdered in the street by Jon Roxton, one of the conspirators, but the bowl-cut-sporting swordsman already had a big duel with Daemon in the first Battle of Tumbleton, so maybe somebody else will get the honors. — James Grebey, Vulture, 10 Aug. 2026 This isn’t the first time Bezos has been tied to a sporting franchise. — Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 10 Aug. 2026 The Seine is hosting both open-water swimming and high diving, placing the river back at the center of a major international sporting event two years after the Paris Olympics. — ABC News, 8 Aug. 2026
Verb
Once Wanda’s ruse is uncovered, the real Vision (now sporting a white costume) is reanimated and has his full memory restored. — Jordan Moreau, Variety, 15 Aug. 2026 In one photo, the family of four posed together on the beach with Sybil sporting a playful pout while the rest of the bunch grinned. — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 13 Aug. 2026 Swift was also sporting much shorter hair, sitting just below her shoulders. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 13 Aug. 2026 The fair’s second edition, ARTnews’s Daniel Cassady wrote, saw a casual atmosphere, with plenty of students and locals sporting Falcons jerseys. — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 12 Aug. 2026 There are also formal and casual dining spaces, along with a kitchen sporting a large eat-in island paired with a secondary prep kitchen. — Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 12 Aug. 2026 Again, for 100 of 128 years, now 101, the blimp has been there, right, for every major event, not just sporting events, but huge events around the world, the blimp has been there, meaning Goodyear’s been there. — Joel Feder, The Drive, 12 Aug. 2026 In it, she can be seen laying in bed and sporting a neck brace. — Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 6 Aug. 2026 The newscaster then asked Percy — sporting a baseball cap, glasses, and a collared shirt — if people often mention their likeness. — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sporting
  1. gamboling
  2. playing
  3. dancing
  4. displaying
  5. merrymaking
  6. recreating
  7. hopping
  8. exhibiting
Noun
  • But her gamboling merrymakers, hammy showgirls, and blithe flaneurs insist otherwise.
    — Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Definition of gamboling
Verb
  • Bailey, for comparison, has a Fielding Run Value of +4 despite playing significantly more innings.
    — Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Then again for a referee assessor on March 14, 2012, while South Korea was playing Qatar in another Olympic qualifier.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of playing
Verb
  • Temwa Chawinga, who plays for the Kansas City Current in the NWSL, logged her fifth goal of the tournament, dancing around falling Algerian goalkeeper Chloe N’Gazi and scoring into the open net in first-half stoppage time.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026
  • Totality also brought glimpses of pinkish-red prominences—fountains of plasma arcing above the sun’s surface, dancing at the moon’s edge.
    — Claire Cameron & Lee Billings, Scientific American, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of dancing
Verb
  • The antibodies recognized cells displaying the mutant KRAS fragment while avoiding cells carrying the normal version of the protein.
    — William A. Haseltine, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2026
  • But the world’s appetite for fossils has exploded in recent years, with social media awash in videos of fossil hunters displaying their finds, and prices for perfect specimens soaring.
    — Anne Doran, ARTnews.com, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of displaying
Noun
  • Nor did great merrymaking surround its 2001 move to pioneer quantitative easing.
    — William Pesek, Forbes.com, 19 June 2026
  • Once ground was completely covered with shards of tableware, folks journeyed from their seats into the center of the room for more dancing and merrymaking.
    — Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 11 June 2026
Definition of merrymaking
Verb
  • The veteran photographer provided Gunn great assistance in faithfully recreating the summit, and the photos Souza took have a striking resemblance to the original photos from ‘86.
    — Barry Levitt, Time, 14 Aug. 2026
  • After 75 years at its original Birmingham, Michigan, location, Hunter House is recreating the restaurant about a mile down Woodward Avenue.
    — Elaine Rojas-Castillo, CBS News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of recreating
Verb
  • Pets have been crawling, slithering, and hopping through classrooms across the United States for years.
    — Medara Udoekong, Christian Science Monitor, 8 Aug. 2026
  • For many, discovering quaint antique shops is the impetus for hopping in the car and taking a leisurely drive.
    — Roger Sands, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of hopping
Verb
  • Starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill, the 1981 Possession centered on a woman going through a divorce who begins exhibiting bizarre behavior.
    — Ryan Gajewski, HollywoodReporter, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Rodriguez, who is is 50, said seeing someone more than 30 years his senior exhibiting so much energy on stage was an inspiring sign that getting older doesn’t necessarily mean slowing down.
    — Sal Pizarro, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of exhibiting

Phrases Containing sporting

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sportif
sporting
sporting house
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Cite this Entry

“Sporting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sporting. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on sporting

Nglish: Translation of sporting for Spanish Speakers

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