sportive

It originated in sportive conversation at poor Lovell's, and we agreed each to produce an act by the next evening; – S.T.C. the first, I the second, and Lovell the third.

Introduction 2007

It takes its name from the frolicsome spirit supposed to be imparted by it to its imbibers, whose gambols remind the observant Teuton of those of the bock, or goat, a figure of which animal, engaged in sportive dalliance with a beer cask, is usually to be seen as a sign in places where this brewage is on tap.

Lager Beer in New York 1864

It originated in sportive conversation at poor Lovell's, and we agreed each to produce an act by the next evening; — S.T.C. the first, I the second, and Lovell the third.

Coleridge & Southey Letters 1794

In sentimental conversation, subjects interesting to the heart, and to the imagination, are brought forward; they are discussed in a kind of sportive way, with animation and refinement, and are never continued longer than politeness allows.

A Sicilian Romance 2004

Abbey of Thélème, -- a kind of sportive Brook Farm set far away in a world unrealized.

Classic French Course in English William Cleaver Wilkinson

Examples of this kind of sportive irreverence are common enough; their root is in human nature: and they could not be absent in the mythology of savage or of ancient peoples.

The Homeric Hymns A New Prose Translation; and Essays, Literary and Mythological Andrew Lang 1878

William was a kind-hearted, "sportive" man, who took _Bell's Life_, and I can remember that there was a good supply of English reading in the house.

Memoirs Charles Godfrey Leland 1863

In sentimental conversation, subjects interesting to the heart, and to the imagination, are brought forward; they are discussed in a kind of sportive way, with animation and refinement, and are never continued longer than politeness allows.

A Sicilian Romance Ann Ward Radcliffe 1793

She had left a snuff-box of considerable value with me, which I had forgotten to return; and, with that kind of sportive cheerfulness which I rather encourage than repress, I called -- 'Here!

Anna St. Ives Thomas Holcroft 1777

Just outside the mountain town of Vicdessos, the "Station Sports Nature de Montcalm" offers guided circuits graded in difficulty and suitable for children from seven years old (montcalm-aventure. com), though the Ariège's wildest Via Ferrata, described as "sportive" requires a four-hour trek up to the Refuge d'Estagnous (ariege. com / refuge-estagnous).

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