spoilsport C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈspɔɪlˌspɔrt/ UK /ˈspɔɪlˌspɔːt/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a person who spoils the pleasure or enjoyment of others Don't be a spoilsport and call off the game just before halftime. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a person who spoils the... killjoywet blanketparty pooperdampergrouch Word family Related forms spoilsport Etymology AI details A compound of spoil (from Latin spoliare 'to plunder') + sport (from Old French desport 'pastime, amusement'), literally one who ruins others' fun. spoliare Latin desport Old French View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society External links Google Images Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary # spoilsport **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈspɔɪlˌspɔrt/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈspɔɪlˌspɔːt/ ## Meanings 1. a person who spoils the pleasure or enjoyment of others ## Examples - Don't be a spoilsport and call off the game just before halftime. ## Synonyms - killjoy - wet blanket - party pooper - damper - grouch ## Related Forms - spoil - sport ## Roots and Affixes - Root: spoliare - Root: desport ## Etymology A compound of spoil (from Latin spoliare 'to plunder') + sport (from Old French desport 'pastime, amusement'), literally one who ruins others' fun. ## AI Etymology Spoilsport is a compound of spoil (from Latin spoliare 'to plunder') + sport (from Old French desport 'pastime, amusement'), literally one who ruins others' fun. The historical chain includes Latin spoliare and Old French desport. Older glosses in the chain include "to plunder" and "pastime, amusement", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, spoilsport is best read as compound and borrowing, yielding an English noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a noun, with the sense "a person who spoils the pleasure or enjoyment of others". related forms include spoil and sport. The result is an English noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning. ## Topics - People & Society markdown