love of the game
5
3.3
- noun
:
amor por el juego
- Many athletes dedicate their lives to their sport for the love of the game, finding joy in every match.
- play for the love of the game
- pure love of the game
- just for the love of the game
And it seems sad to me that there is increasingly the lack of kind of joyful love of the game.
- And it seems sad to me that there is increasingly the lack of kind of joyful love of the game.
- So it was so much in my DNA that I I was lucky because I put the hours in because of the love of the game.
- But it's the love of the game and I think the minute you lose the energy, you know, I love watching live football.
- Like I rock with my shit, like I don't care, but for the love of the game, I'll get snipped.
- I hang out with Vlad and destabilize Western democracy for the love of the game.
Examples
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Tennis was an amateur sport, and players were expected to pursue it for the love of the game, which made it difficult for anyone other than the very rich to play competitively.
Blog text (24) -
Whether batting or fielding, they played for "the love of the game," recalls Donna Poll of South Weber, a member of the Shamrocks for 18 years, beginning in 1949.
Blog text (8) -
But it's the love of the game and I think the minute you lose the energy, you know, I love watching live football.
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I think they all share a real love of the game.
Blog text (27) -
These kids are playing for the passion and love of the game right now.
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Every time we talk, I'm reinvigorated by my love of the game.
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What made J.R. irresistible and always forgivable was his high-spiritedness and his love of the game.
Blog text (1) -
This story is for and about kids who once played or still play baseball for the love of the game, without coaches and concession stands and with little worn-out equipment.
Blog text (13) -
Fortunately for baseball fans everywhere, especially those of us watching purely for love of the game, the Giants rallying after two straight losses to shut out the Cardinals and take Game 6 saved the NLCS from a similarly ho-hum fate, no matter what happens tomorrow.
Blog text (21) -
She volunteers as a coach because she enjoys teaching kids for the love of the game.
Synonyms
438
2.0
An activity or interest someone loves and spends time on
1
5.9
A very strong, excited feeling that makes people act
Antonyms
How Passionate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'love' (strong affection) + 'of'/'the' (linking) + 'game' (sport/activity) yields 'affection for the game', so a learner who knows the parts can infer passion for the sport. This is a common, cross-linguistic possession/relational pattern and does not require idiomatic knowledge beyond the constituent meanings.
Etymology
Love of the game paints a clear picture: someone who keeps playing late into the night or in empty fields because they really enjoy the sport. The words love (deep liking) and game (the sport) together show why it means a strong passion to play, even without 'money' or 'fame'.