as in killjoy
a person who spoils the pleasure of others
if you don't want to play, at least don't be a spoilsport
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spoilsport
Sorry for being a spoilsport.
—
John F. Wasik, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2021
Who knows whether another variant will turn spoilsport next year.
—Rajrishi Singhal, Quartz, 10 Feb. 2022
Does wanting to moderate the telling of jokes about AI sentience become a grinch-like spoilsport?
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022
While demand is ballooning, high taxes—3% each market fee and rural development fund, 2.5% commission to agents and 1% service charges—could play spoilsport.
—Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 7 Mar. 2022
See all Example Sentences for spoilsport 
John F. Wasik, Forbes, 13 Oct. 2021
Who knows whether another variant will turn spoilsport next year.
—Rajrishi Singhal, Quartz, 10 Feb. 2022
Does wanting to moderate the telling of jokes about AI sentience become a grinch-like spoilsport?
—Lance Eliot, Forbes, 26 Aug. 2022
While demand is ballooning, high taxes—3% each market fee and rural development fund, 2.5% commission to agents and 1% service charges—could play spoilsport.
—Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 7 Mar. 2022
See all Example Sentences for spoilsport
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spoilsport
Noun
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Within the dog-button community, Horowitz is regarded as a killjoy.—
Camille Bromley Gabra Zackman Krish Seenivasan David Mason,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2025
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Esther is the original feminist killjoy — acerbic, brilliant, obsessive, confrontational, deeply relatable.—
Jillian Eugenios,
NBC News,
29 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The Vivienne The Vivienne, the drag entertainer who won the inaugural season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK and competed on All Stars 7, died on Jan. 5 at 32.—
EW Staff,
EW.com,
24 Jan. 2025
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But in reality, there’s wind drag pushing in the opposite direction, which partially offsets the force from your engine.—
Rhett Allain,
WIRED,
24 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The cynics say the wildfires are the death knell of the film business.—
Todd Heyman,
The Hollywood Reporter,
3 Sep. 2019
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As the two moved through the scenes like a pair of tragic jesters, delighting the wide-eyed and annoying the cynics.—
Elise Taylor,
Vogue,
16 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Sequences of Elvira starving herself and obsessing over her weight bore the points down like a drill, though the screenplay could do more to explore the lead’s subjectivity and how her self-lacerating pursuit of beauty is becoming infectious to all around her.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
24 Jan. 2025
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The first Prohibition Collection consisted of five different whiskeys that were unique to the Buffalo Trace lineup, although some bore similarities to brands produced there today like George T. Stagg, Sazerac, Eagle Rare, and W.L. Weller.—
Jonah Flicker,
Robb Report,
15 Jan. 2025
Noun
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As the scholar of Victorian culture Will Abberley outlines, in early works such as Glaucus, Kingsley was prone to interpret nature in moral terms, to finding symbols of virtue in behaviors revealed through observation, so that bees display industriousness, crabs cleanliness, and so on.—
Ben Woollard,
JSTOR Daily,
29 Jan. 2025
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Isopods are an order of invertebrates belonging to the greater crustacean group of animals, like crabs and shrimp.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA TODAY,
23 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Tired of looking like the grinch (can't help the hair).—
Kevin Lynn,
Newsweek,
6 Jan. 2025
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The Pompano Beach, Fla. doesn’t play grinch alone; Veeze, Lil Yachty, Rob49, Juvenile, and B.G. also appear on the project.—
Preezy Brown,
VIBE.com,
27 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Assassin's Creed 3 After a whole trilogy led by the suave Ezio, Assassin's Creed III's Connor felt like a wet blanket.—
John Mac Ghlionn,
Newsweek,
13 Jan. 2025
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Stiller’s Roy, the leader of the titular supergroup, is rarely more than a wet blanket, literally powerless and mopey right until the climactic battle.—
Sean Malin,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Spoilsport.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spoilsport. Accessed 8 Feb. 2025.
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