make sport of

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• enPR: māk spôrt əv
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /meɪ̯k spɔːɹt əv/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /meɪ̯k spoɹt əv/
• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /mæɪ̯k spoːɹt əv/
• (Scotland) IPA^(key): /mek spoɹt əv/
• (India) IPA^(key): /meːk spoːɾʈ ov/
• Hyphenation: make sport of

make sport of (third-person singular simple present makes sport of, present participle making sport of, simple past and past participle made sport of)

2. (idiomatic) To make fun of someone or something.

   Synonyms: mock, ridicule, tease

   • 2003, Tobias Wolff, “Class Picture”, in Old School: a novel‎^[1], 1st edition (fiction), quoted in Merriam-Webster, New York City, NY: Alfred A[braham]. Knopf, published 2003, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 10, lines 5–7:

     I never heard him say a hard word about anyone, and it visibly grieved him when the rest of us made sport of our schoolmates, especially those with hopes of being published in Troubadour.

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see make,‎ sport,‎ of.

• “make sport of, v.” under “make, v.”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present, reproduced from Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 2003, →OCLC.
• “make sport of” in Farlex Dictionary of Idioms, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2022; reproduced on Idioms and phrases, TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2025, retrieved 2025-07-23.

• “make sport of”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.