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# sportive

adjective (sportive, more sportive) — old-fashioned

«sportive» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (old-fashioned) Sportive means playful and full of fun: a sportive puppy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#m1)
2. Sportive can mean to do with sport, or sporty in look (a sportive car — more common in other languages). [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#m2)
3. (cycling) A «sportive» (noun) is a long organised bike ride that is not a race. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#m3)

### In the lessons

Rare in everyday English: you meet it in old books and poems for playful animals or children. In cycling (UK, Ireland), a sportive is a popular long ride with timing, open to amateurs. Learners from other languages may say «sportive» when English speakers would say «sporty».

### Examples

- The sportive lambs jumped about the field. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#x1)
- The poem describes sportive dolphins in the waves. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#x2)
- Dad entered a 100-kilometre cycling sportive. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#x3)
- She was in a sportive mood and played tricks all day. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#x4)
- In English we usually say «sporty», not «sportive», for someone who likes sport. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#x5)
- The kittens were sportive and chased the string. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#x6)
- But with the Pygmies he was the most sportive and humorous, and merry-hearted, and sweet-tempered old Giant that ever washed his face in a wet cloud. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/#x7)

### Note

False friend: French «sportif» and some other languages' words mean «sporty» or «athletic»; in English, «sporty» is the normal word. «Sportive» is old-fashioned, except as the cycling noun.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «sportive» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sportive/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«sportive» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/sportive.html) on Mova free.