Here are the most common vocabulary relating to the topic ‘Sport’. These words are collected from different sources and can be used in both productive sections of IELTS. They can also help you better understand the Reading section of the test.
- workout(noun) – a period of physical exercise.
– Always wear good shoes for your workout.
– After a one-hour workout, Sam felt good. - martial art (noun) – a sport that is a traditional Japanese or Chinese form of fighting or defending yourself.
– Kung fu and karate are martial arts.
– The concentration of the curriculum focuses on intense defensive tactics/martial art instruction and advanced police tactics. - pitch (noun) – an area painted with lines for playing particular sports, especially football.
– He was taken to hospital after his collapse on the pitch.
– He dribbled the ball to the edge of the pitch. - umpire (noun)- a person who is present at a sports competition in order to make certain that the rules of that particular game are obeyed and to judge if particular actions are acceptable.
– Major League Baseball does not allow umpires to review calls.
– We have all been brought up to accept the umpire’s decision. - outplay (verb) – to play a game more cleverly and successfully than another person or team.
– The French were completely outplayed by the Russian team.
– They outplayed their illustrious opponents and won 20. - also-ran (noun) – someone in a competition who is unlikely to do well or who has failed.
– If that had not happened, today we might be a winner on the high street, not an also-ran.
– The team grew from a chronic also-ran in the late 1960s and early 1970s to a contender near the end of the decade. - parkour (noun) – free running, an activity in which people move quickly around buildings and objects in a city while performing jumps and other skilful movements.
– Various sport-shoes manufacturers have developed shoes specifically for parkour and freerunning.
– He is also quite skilled at parkour now living in the urban jungle. - defeat (verb) – to win against someone in a competition.
– They defeated the Italian team and reached the final.
– We were defeated by 3 goals to 2. - opponent (noun) – a person who someone is competing against in a sports event.
– In the second game, her opponent hurt her leg and had to retire.
– She had a decided advantage over her opponent. - performance (noun) – how well a person, machine, etc. does a piece of work or an activity.
– He was an experienced player who was always seeking to improve his performance.
– This was a very impressive performance by the young player, who scored 14 points within the first ten minutes. - record (noun) – an achievement that is better than anything that has happened before.
– The American team set a new world record in the sprint relay.
– He broke the world record twice. - substitute (noun) – someone who does someone else’s job for a limited period of time, especially in a sports team or school.
– Germany brought on a substitute at half time.
– The coach has to find a substitute for Tim. - qualify (verb) – to succeed in getting into a competition.
– Nigeria was the first team to qualify for the World Cup.
– England has to win tonight’s qualifying match to advance to the next round of the competition. - field sports (noun) – sports that happen in the countryside, such as hunting, shooting, and fishing
– As soon as anyone mentions field sports people direct their conversations to some one else.
– Our party remains a true friend to field sports.
