ludophilia

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noun

The love of play.

Scrabble 16

Meanings

nounludophilia (uncountable)
  1. uncountableThe love of play.
    2 more examples

    […] based on sicalipsis, with their tastelessness, petty subjects and immodest exhibition of female beauties, became a fitting artistic formula for the hedonism, ludophilia, escapism, and consumerism of the years just prior to the Great War, an atmosphere well reflected in stage settings similar to the ones displayed on the grand avenues and boulevards of the main European […]

    2008, Sara Martin, Recycling Culture(s), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 169

    Chapter 3 examines the racial and class politics of musical play as they are manifested in negotiations among the postcommunist state, the European Union, the global music industry, and Roma minority groups. The argument foregrounds a disavowed register of European nationalisms: the moral majority’s ludophilia toward “lazy” and “unproductive” Gypsies. Evoking Stuart Hall’s theorization of the playful Caribbean cultural identities, the chapter discusses Roma Rap, […]

    2009, Anikó Imre, Identity Games: Globalization and the Transformation of Media Cultures in the New Europe, MIT Press, →ISBN, page 18

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekφιλία“love”, “fondness”
  2. Latinlūdus“play”
  3. Englishludophilia

Latin lūdus (“play”) + English -philia (from the Ancient Greek φιλία (philía, “love”, “fondness”))

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

ludophilia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ludophilia

MLA

“ludophilia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ludophilia. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ludophilia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ludophilia.

Source: ludophilia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.