a) someone who encourages others
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b) someone who stops the fun
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‘A spoilsport’ is someone whose selfish actions or attitudes spoil the fun for other people, normally involved in a game, sport or social gathering.
French translation
rabat-joie, trouble-fête
How NOT to translate : *gâcheur de sport
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Examples in context
‘Gloucestershire NFU welcomes Chinese lantern inquiry’
An inquiry into the impact of Chinese lanterns on livestock has been welcomed by the leader of the National Farmers’ Union in Gloucestershire.
Charles Mann said it was "an issue" in the county, and it was a "realistic approach to try to find a solution".
The Government has commissioned a study into the lanterns. Farmers have called for an inquiry for several years, following reports of animals ingesting lanterns, or becoming trapped in them. Farming minister David Heath said : "We’ve got to establish whether it is a problem. I’m pretty sure it is."
"[The lanterns] look lovely. Nobody wants to be a spoilsport, and say we don’t want to have things that people enjoy."
BBC News, 2nd Nov. 2012
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‘The poor old FA Cup’
Like one of those spoilsport, conjurers who gets kicked out of the Magic Circle for revealing how it’s possible to saw a woman in half and then put her back together again, assorted football folk have been attracting opprobrium for suggesting, either through word or deed, that the fabled magic of the FA Cup may be a lot more more bogus than genuine hocus-pocus.
In a football world where the grind of actually having to play competitive matches increasingly gets in the way of the more important club business of keeping players fit, going on revenue-generating tours abroad and performing well in the transfer market, the poor old FA Cup is fast becoming an irrelevance in the eyes of managers of clubs that win so many trophies on such a regular basis that they can afford to turn their nose up at one of only two prizes in English football they have any chance of winning.
The Guardian, 5th Jan 2014
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Everyday usage
Please come along to the party later. Don’t be such a spoilsport !
Don’t be a spoilsport. Let them try it. They will be careful.
c) something that is banned because it is dangerous
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