play fair

idiom

: to play according to the rules
He claims that his opponent wasn't playing fair.

Examples of play fair in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web In a fair fight, the immune system would wipe out cancer every time – but this crafty disease doesn’t play fair. Michael Irving, New Atlas, 20 Sep. 2024 On the field of love, play fair (and) ask for consent. Mark Zeigler, The Mercury News, 26 July 2024 China does not play fair with government subsidies, IP, labor or tariffs. Phillip Molnar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 17 May 2024 In short, celebrities didn’t play fair for the 2023 Fashion Awards this go-round. Robyn Mowatt, Essence, 5 Dec. 2023 Former Attorney General Eric Holder cast doubt on President Trump's chances at victory on Election Day, saying the only way Trump could win reelection is if his party doesn't play fair. Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner, 3 Nov. 2020 Mitt Romney once complained that Barack Obama didn’t play fair. James Taranto, wsj.com, 24 Apr. 2023 The report also noted that politically there remains the belief that the other side simply doesn't play fair. Peter Suciu, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2021 And corporations, unlike universities, have no incentive to play fair. Gary Marcus, Scientific American, 6 June 2022

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

Dictionary Entries Near play fair

Cite this Entry

“Play fair.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/play%20fair. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!