as in playfully
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Recent Examples of Synonyms for sportively
Adverb
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To solve the couple's particular design puzzle, the studio came up with Light House, a vertical home that places each of the family’s major activities in its own dedicated box and playfully stacks them on top of one another.—
Stefan Ionescu
March 30,
New Atlas,
30 Mar. 2026 -
The queen had a wry sense of humor and enjoyed Angela’s wit and her habit of playfully teasing other courtiers.—
Katie Nicholl,
Vanity Fair,
30 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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On her Instagram Story, the As Ever founder shared an accompanying video which, according to People, features a voice that’s likely Lilibet’s animatedly speaking towards the end of the clip, as the waves rolled in.—
Rachel Burchfield,
InStyle,
11 Mar. 2026
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Mangione wore beige prison clothing to the hearing and spoke animatedly with his defense team.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
30 Jan. 2026
Adverb
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The song's interplay between choir and orchestra is buoyantly euphoric, opening a door to bolder, more intentionally progressive and soulful sounds in the country's mainstream.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 May 2025
Adverb
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Still, while these surfaces are clearly meant to reflect deeper emotional and cultural truths, Coppola’s mining of them is done glancingly, airily.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
21 Mar. 2026
Adverb
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Then again, maybe $1,000 just rolls trippingly off the tongue and into Trump’s good graces.—
Stephen Gandel,
The Seattle Times,
3 Feb. 2018
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One man, whose arrogance and ego lead him trippingly into chaos of his own making, can turn a shining city on the hill into a shadowy, taudry replica of itself. …—
James Hohmann,
Washington Post,
14 July 2017
Adverb
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The horse, not sensing any guidance on its ribcage, begins to move skittishly in tight, concentric circles.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Feb. 2026
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While skittishly edited, the film nevertheless builds up Faithfull’s biography in basic chronological order.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Aug. 2025
Adverb
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Young hunters can also expect pennies, treats and other surprises along the route—enough to keep the afternoon lively.—
Debby Rice,
Mercury News,
24 Feb. 2026
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Close to lively Lower Greenville in the coveted M Streets neighborhood, a five-bedroom modern design awaits at 6215 Llano Ave.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
22 Feb. 2026
Adverb
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The sight of them gave me the creeps, triggering a desire to turn around and walk briskly in the other direction.—
Simon Shuster,
The Atlantic,
27 Mar. 2026
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In Albany, Ossé filmed a video, rife with quick cuts, of himself walking around briskly in a dark suit and talking about the Fair Share Act.—
Molly Fischer,
New Yorker,
5 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Sportively.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sportively. Accessed 3 Apr. 2026.
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