Home › Words › S › sportivenesssportivenesssportiveness means the state of being sportive.Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, sportiveness ranks #2,099 of 42,749 for Qualifying.EtymologyFrom sportive + -ness.nounthe state of being sportivee.g.“You will see the tame horse in the paddock gallop about for his pleasure, and the wild horse on the prairie will start and run for miles in mere sportiveness.” — 1890, Theo. Stephenson Browne, In the Riding-School; Chats With Esmeralda:Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).