SPORTSMANLY Synonyms: 25 Similar and Opposite Words

sportsmanly

adjective

Definition of sportsmanly

as in legal

following or according to the rules in wrestling, biting is not sportsmanly, and will result in a forfeit

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sportsmanly

Adjective

In December 2024, a Bucharest court ruled that the first case against the Tates and their two female associates couldn't proceed to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities and sent it back to prosecutors.

— Ivan Pereira, ABC News, 19 July 2026
And some legal experts are now questioning whether the department is playing politics in an unprecedented way with a high-profile criminal investigation.

— Josh Campbell, CNN Money, 19 July 2026

Definition of legal

Adjective

But when a mysterious stranger begins blackmailing Neve, she is forced to compromise every legal, moral, and ethical obligation to gain an acquittal — or else risk her dark secrets being exposed.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 15 July 2026
Rather than uniting America’s founders, slavery divided the authors of both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as a moral issue.

— Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 14 July 2026

Definition of moral

Adjective

Marble fireplaces and bespoke timber joinery soften a palette of black, white and brushed brass, while parquet floors bring warmth beneath the clean geometry.

— Natalie Hoberman, Forbes.com, 18 July 2026
In a paper published this month in PLOS One, Alaei and her colleagues propose an alternative - employing a suite of superworms, a kind of hefty beetle larva that can capably pick a variety of animal skeletons clean.

— Ari Daniel, NPR, 17 July 2026

Definition of clean

Adjective

Where uncertainty exists, the appropriate response is not to suppress scientific debate, but to strengthen the evidence through rigorous ethical research.

— Torie Bosch, STAT, 18 July 2026
If one or more commissioners choose to abstain from a merger vote because of ethical concerns, what would happen next is unclear.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 17 July 2026

Definition of ethical

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.

Browse Nearby Words

sportsmanlike

sportsmanly

sportsmen

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Sportsmanly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sportsmanly. Accessed 20 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of sportsmanly

adjective

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

raffish

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

Popular in Wordplay

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?

Popular

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Games & Quizzes