sportyadj.
/ˈspɔːti/, U.S. /ˈspɔrdi/ colloquial (originally U.S. slang).
1.
a. Relating to or characterized by sport or diversion; providing or affording sport.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > player or sportsperson > [adjective]
sporting1679
sportive1713
sportsmanly1778
sportsmanlike1816
reserve1869
sporty1889
sportif1953
1833 [implied in: Observer & Telegraph (Hudson, Ohio) 28 Feb. 1/2 Then Caligula was civil when in the sportiness of his sovereign pleasure, he butchered with his own hands his peaceable subjects, for mere amusement. (at sportiness n.)].
1889 Daily News 11 Mar. 2/3 The very ‘sporty’ little venture was watched with much interest.
1893 Weekly Express & Mail (N.Y.) 28 June This is the ‘sporty’ way to capture them, but the professional frog hunters go for their prey..with scoop nets and long poles.
1919 M. Moore Let. 2 Nov. in Sel. Lett. (1997) 125 There is considerable demand over at the library for ‘sporty’ boy's fiction.
1926 Travel Nov. 56/4 (advt.) Eleven sporty golf courses, with many tournaments.
1946 New Yorker 11 May 39 (advt.) Mile after mile of game-filled forests, giant brown bears, sporty fishing streams, vistas of surpassing beauty!
1970 E. Kübler-Ross On Death & Dying (1973) x. 181 I liked to do sporty things, go places, go to games and to a lot of meetings.
1995 Maxim July 123/2 Local golf, fishing, shooting and riding make this a sporty base for anyone who also enjoys après-sport luxury.
b. Of clothing: (originally) fashionable in a manner associated with a sporting lifestyle (cf. sporting adj. 1a); flashy, rakish; (now chiefly) suitable for sport or informal wear; casually stylish.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [adjective] > specific fashions
pompadour1756
regency1811
Lavallière1873
greenery-yallery1881
empire1887
Régence1891
sporty1895
Gibson1901
Beatle1963
mod1964
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > for specific purpose > informal wear > informal or sports wear
sporty1895
sportive1935
sportif1953
1895 P. West in G. J. Varney Story of Patriot's Day 144 Down the street there came a person, Clad in ‘sporty’ raiment he, With a diamond in his bosom—‘Flash’ in his entirety.
1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. from Self-made Merchant to his Son (1906) iii. 41 I noticed..that you were running to sporty clothes and cigarettes.
1946 E. O'Neill Iceman Cometh i. 5 A light suit that had once been flashily sporty but is now about to fall apart.
1954 Atlanta Daily World 24 Mar. 4/6 [The boxing champion] wore a tuxedo,..quite in contrast to his usual sporty attire.
1984 Footwear News 4 June 35/2 Domestic resources also said they would focus on casual, sporty, flat and low-heeled shoes.
2002 Blush! Nov. 61/1 There are..sporty track pants and glammy lurex-striped hoodies.
c. Of a vehicle, esp. a motor car: of a racing type; designed for use in sport; that delivers high speed or performance; (also) characteristic of or resembling such a vehicle.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [adjective] > resembling sports car
sporty1907
semi-sports1933
1907 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Evening Gaz. 15 Oct. 5/1 The jerking, jumping, snapping start.., and the sudden stop that fairly throws the operator from his seat, may have their ‘sporty’ features, but they soon send the car to the repair shop.
1920 Times 29 May 2/6 (advt.) Very fine sporty car in splendid condition; too big for owner.
1962 A. Lurie Love & Friendship xii. 228 Traded in his Pontiac got him one of those new Valiants,..kind of sporty for a man his age.
1965 LIFE 14 May 120 (advt.) There are buckets up front, separated by a sporty console when you order Powerglide or the 4-speed.
1972 Sunday Express 9 Jan. 5/1 Performance is distinctly sporty. Its top gear acceleration of 40–60 in 9 seconds beats anything else in the class.
1980 J. C. Oates Bellefleur (1981) v. 527 That sporty little seaplane, painted in camouflage spots, pontooned, with a single whirring propeller.
2007 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 29 July 45 The idea of the cool and sporty 4x4..probably started with the Porsche Cayenne.
2. Of a person: concerned with or inclined to participate in sport; sporting; esp. (in early use) fast-living; (now) interested in or good at games or athletic activities.
ΚΠ
1855 Knoxville (Iowa) Jrnl. 1 Oct. While I was at Barker & Mastellar, we used to get quite sporty and play poker in the office.
1897 Outing 30 484/2 It's awfully sporty of them to lend fresh ponies to their opponents.
1908 G. H. Lorimer Jack Spurlock xi. 269 Sporty old three-bottle ancestors, with a genius for throwing deuces and picking also-rans.
1911 Indianapolis Star 21 May 39/1 ‘Come, boys,’ he said in a reckless impulse of sordid profligacy, ‘let's have a candy raffle...’ ‘That's awfully sporty and spendy of you.’
1925 Amer. Mercury Jan. 12/1 There have been cries to the effect that a débutante is not popular unless she is ‘sporty’.
1974 S. Terkel Working v. 252 Most of the people in town, the really big spenders, the sporty class, I knew too well.
1989 M. Forster Have Men had Enough? (1990) 11 He disapproves of smoking, being your sporty health-freak type.
1991 New Yorker 7 Oct. 70/1 The ideologues are not very sporty, and most of them have never so much as mounted a horse.
2002 Herald (Glasgow) 10 Aug. (Mag.) 63/1 Attractive professional sporty female 31, with va va voom, seeks a fun loving, adventurous..male.
Compounds
sporty-looking adj.
ΚΠ
1896 Godey's Mag. Feb. 152/1 A sporty-looking drummer.
1954 P. Hamburger in New Yorker 7 Aug. 21/1 She drove away in a sporty-looking car—it was a Cadillac, as I recall.
1991 Western Living Mar. 18 (advt.) A trim, sporty-looking package that powers through traffic and into tight parking spots with ease.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
adj.1833