play fair

English

Verb

play fair (third-person singular simple present plays fair, present participle playing fair, simple past and past participle played fair)

1. To behave equitably and honestly.

   Coordinate term: play dirty

   Police interrogators don't have to play fair: they are allowed to lie to or coerce a witness.

Related terms

• fair play

Translations

to behave equitably

• Finnish: toimia reilusti, pelata reilusti, toimia rehellisesti, pelata rehellisesti
• German: fair spielen, mit offenen Karten spielen (de) (figuratively)
• Italian: giocare a carte scoperte
• Polish: grać uczciwie impf, grać czysto impf
• Romanian: juca cinstit

See also

• play it straight
• play by the rules
• play the game

Further reading

• “play fair”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “play fair”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “play fair”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “play fair”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.
• “play fair”, in Collins English Dictionary.

Anagrams

• Fairplay, fair play