sportsmanship

Everyday

Playing fairly and kindly in sport or games: following the rules, respecting the other team and the referee, and being a good winner and a good loser. tree →

In the lessons

In PE lessons and school sports days, teachers reward good sportsmanship: shaking hands after a match, helping a player who fell, not cheating and not sulking. In stories, a character who shows sportsmanship is admired even if they lose. Phrases: good sportsmanship, show sportsmanship, sportsmanship award.

Examples

• Shaking hands after the game shows good sportsmanship. tree →
• She won the sportsmanship award. tree →
• Cheating is bad sportsmanship. tree →
• He stopped to help the runner who fell; that was real sportsmanship. tree →
• Say "well played" to the other team. tree →
• Our coach cares about sportsmanship more than winning. tree →

Note

Uncountable: "good sportsmanship", not "a sportsmanship". A "good sport" is a person who plays fairly and takes losing well. Some people say "sporting behaviour" or "fair play", which mean the same thing.