athletic

Pluralathletics

1. 1
   adjective

   Having a muscular, well-developed body and being physically fit.

   Years of rowing gave him a lean, athletic build.

   The dancers were remarkably athletic, all toned muscle and stamina.

   Similarmuscular, toned, fit, strong, strapping

   Oppositeflabby, weak, puny, frail

   Note

   Here the word describes a body rather than a habit, and its natural partner is build: an athletic build, a lean, athletic build. Keep it apart from the "physically active" meaning. Someone can look athletic without playing anything, or love sport without the physique. Unlike the classifying use, this one grades freely: more athletic, most athletic.

2. 2
   adjective

   Inclined toward sports and physical exercise; physically active.

   The whole family is highly athletic, filling weekends with soccer and cycling.

   She stayed athletic well into her seventies, swimming every day.

   Similarsporty, active, fit, energetic

   Oppositesedentary, inactive, unathletic

3. 3
   adjective

   Relating to athletes or to sports and physical competition.

   The university expanded its athletic department this year.

   Several athletic scholarships were offered to the top recruits.

   Similarsporting

   Note

   A classifying adjective, not a describing one: it sorts things into the world of athletes and sport, as in the American Athletic Association, an athletic department or an athletic scholarship. It does not take more or most here. A department cannot be more athletic than another, and that is how to tell it from the "fit, muscular" meaning. Behind it stands Greek athlētḗs, built on âthlon, with the adjective ending -ikós.

4. 4
   adjective

   Describing a motion or play that demands fine physical skill and coordination.

   The shortstop made an athletic dive to stop the grounder.

   Critics praised the dancer's athletic, gravity-defying jumps.

   Similaracrobatic, agile, nimble

   Oppositeclumsy, awkward

   Note

   Praise moves from the player to the play: what is called athletic is the movement itself, such as a dive, a leap or a grab over the fence that only a skilled body could make. It pairs readily with play and dive, and it judges the action without saying anything about the player's physique or habits.

5. 5
   nouncountable

   A person of muscular, large-boned build, as classified in Ernst Kretschmer's typology of body types.

   Kretschmer would have labeled the wrestler an athletic without hesitation.

   Of the forty patients in the ward, only one was a true athletic, broad in the shoulders and heavy in the bone.

   Note

   The adjective turned into a count noun for Ernst Kretschmer's typology of body types. It takes an article like any other noun: an athletic, a true athletic. Its plural is athletics, spelled exactly like the everyday word for sport. In writing about Kretschmer's types, only context separates the two.

6. 6
   adjective

   Of a Super Mario level: emphasizing platforming challenge, with precise jumps between floating platforms above a bottomless pit and upbeat background music.

   The third world opens with an athletic level demanding pixel-perfect jumps over the void.

   Speedrunners dread the athletic stages, where one mistimed leap means falling into the pit.

   Note

   Super Mario levels fall into types, and athletic is one of five: overworld, underground, athletic, castle and underwater. A level's type sets both its look and the kind of challenge it poses. S. M. Lucas and V. Volz rely on the scheme in 2019 to analyze level design. The Super Mario Bros. Encyclopedia (2018) pictures athletic courses built from rotating lifts and stretch blocks.

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