How to Use fair play in a Sentence

fair play

noun
Definition of fair playnext
  • And for years, there hasn’t been a lot of fair play in this country.
    — Tim Reynolds, ajc, 18 Oct. 2021
  • But as the proverb goes turnabout is fair play, and at least two cats are now well aware of that.
    — Ashley Hoffman, Time, 28 Jan. 2020
  • The fee schedule is set in the interest of fair play for all schools.
    — Ben Thomas | Bthomas@al.com, al, 15 Feb. 2023
  • Remember the rules of fair play and abide by them no matter the cost.
    — oregonlive, 13 Apr. 2020
  • Expect grace notes; the kind of fair play that became a hallmark of the Tokyo Olympics.
    — Kurt Streeter, New York Times, 3 Feb. 2022
  • Keep an open mind and do your best to strive for equality and fair play.
    — Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 21 May 2024
  • She's got a lot to say about what all this means about fair play in the Olympic spirit, in just a few moments.
    — James Brown, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2022
  • Loss of faith in knowing that fair play will prevail has damaged our sport and our morale.
    — Kaitlyn Weaver, CNN, 17 Feb. 2022
  • While turnabout seems fair play, that just isn’t the American Way.
    — Pat Lenhoff, chicagotribune.com, 19 June 2019
  • This view of fair play is also sensitive to the high entry cost of the PC market.
    — Ethan Davison, Washington Post, 16 Oct. 2020
  • Strive for peace of mind, fair play and overall happiness.
    — Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 23 Aug. 2019
  • So, that was pretty shocking, but this seems like turnaround is fair play.
    — Fox News, 16 Mar. 2018
  • Take a look at the two: Talking about fair play, Senegal got knocked out because of more yellow cards (6) than Japan (4).
    — Pete Grathoff, kansascity, 28 June 2018
  • The point of musical chairs is to teach children fair play and sportsmanship.
    — Bernice L. McFadden, Longreads, 7 Aug. 2021
  • And that is not a political statement, that's just fair play.
    — Benjamin Vanhoose, PEOPLE.com, 3 Aug. 2020
  • Japan and Senegal were tied on all tiebreakers except ‘‘fair play points,’’ based on yellow and red cards.
    — Anne M. Peterson, BostonGlobe.com, 28 June 2018
  • There are helmets and pads for protection; drug tests to ensure fair play.
    — Amy Bass, CNN, 2 Nov. 2022
  • The fair play points, which was calculated by the number of yellow and red cards for each team in the tournament.
    — Pete Grathoff, kansascity, 28 June 2018
  • Everything from basketball to foursquare to monkey bars was fair play with that group of children and the Beavers.
    — Mikayla Pivec | For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 3 Jan. 2020
  • Make sure the topper is small enough so the bottom rug gets fair play—meaning the smaller one is about two-thirds the size of its counterpart.
    — Marisa Spyker, Southern Living, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Hands, feet, and bats are all fair play in knattleikr, and all can be used either to move the ball down the field or to stop an opponent from scoring.
    — Katie Rife, Vulture, 28 Apr. 2022
  • Well, in the interest of fair play, here are the odds for the Stanley Cup, as provided by BetOnline.
    — Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2019
  • There is a win at all costs attitude that goes against the principles of sportsmanship and fair play.
    — Sarah Hughes, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2022
  • The rules that govern fair play are voted on, agreed to and expected to be upheld by all NCAA member schools.
    — Teddy Grant, ABC News, 23 Aug. 2023
  • There are rules, not just etiquette standards, for sportsmanship and fair play.
    — Lori Nickel, USA TODAY, 3 Feb. 2022
  • But there is no rule of war that requires Russia to simply treat this behavior as fair play.
    — Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 4 Mar. 2022
  • Yet the fair play violations were surging even faster than the number of overall games.
    — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2020
  • If there’s an opportunity to gain an edge, the Patriots will take it, rules and fair play be damned.
    — Nancy Armour, USA TODAY, 16 Dec. 2019
  • Though lessons of fair play and sportsmanship are still taught in the schoolyard, the guiding light of professional sports has become money, not morality.
    — Washington Post, 21 June 2024
  • Is this fair play or foul? Babies not being great conversationalists at the best of times, Miss Manners would have thought 10 parents, hot babies and all, could have improvised a party on their own while young Jethro finished his nap.
    — Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 10 July 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fair play.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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