How to Use sportive in a Sentence

sportive

adjective
  • There are glimpses of a version of the series that’s more sportive, less self-serious.
    — James Poniewozik, New York Times, 18 Apr. 2018
  • There is, from the outset, a sportive tension to the relationship between the two women.
    — Rachel Syme, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2020
  • Complimenti davvero, sei stata una delle migliori figure sportive nella quale mi sono imbattuto.
    — SI.com, 4 Mar. 2018
  • About 80 percent of these sportive lemurs have been wiped out during the past two decades because of habitat loss and hunting, and fewer than a hundred are thought to survive today.
    — Dina Fine Maron, Animals, 14 Dec. 2020
  • His actions impact the reputation of his colleagues, sportive results, and eventually can be damaging to our game.
    — Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 26 Sep. 2022
  • These expedition-style vessels attract nature-minded, science-curious and sportive travelers, who revel in the great outdoors.
    — Laura Manske, Forbes, 26 Apr. 2021
  • The reader is also provided essential details about Heller’s memorial service, where to send donations, and who survives him — but even these particulars are delivered in a sportive spirit of fun-poking and wit.
    — NBC News, 21 Sep. 2019
  • Examples in the show from his time in Paris include small, sportive portraits of an uncle and, from 1866, a life-size, heroically clunky one of his father reading a leftist newspaper—which the starchy patriarch would not have liked.
    — Rachel Aviv, The New Yorker, 21 Feb. 2011
  • In Montagne des Français, the exclusive habitat of the northern sportive lemur—a seven-inch tall, grayish-brown animal known for its shrill screams—patrols have identified areas newly denuded for charcoal production.
    — Dina Fine Maron, Animals, 14 Dec. 2020
  • On South Beach, more sportive activities include beachside volleyball, basketball and soccer, glass-bottom kayaking, paddle boarding and Zorbs, in which riders enter giant inflatable balls.
    — Richard Tribou, OrlandoSentinel.com, 16 Mar. 2018
  • The woozy, choppily edited party sequence, featuring lots of handheld, cellphone-style footage and glassy slow-motion interludes, clearly illustrates the camaraderie and profound affection between the five main characters, who tease and tickle one another like sportive, overgrown puppies.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 22 May 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sportive.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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