Meanings
comparative playfuller · comparative more playful · superlative playfullest · superlative most playful · alternative playfull
- Funny; humorous; jesty; frolicsome; frisky.
John is a playful fellow.
2 more examples
A party hat is a playful conical hat people wear at parties.
Why this already very fast train should be speeded up still further, when none of the other more easily timed S.R. West of England trains has a single minute pared from its schedule, is unexplained - unless this is a playful dig at the Western Region, most of whose expresses, by reason of additional stops, will be decelerated from the same date.
1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 593 - Fun; recreational; unserious.
A brainteaser is a playful puzzle posed as a test of intelligence.
- Experimental.
He was a rather playful artist.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectivefull of fun and high spirits
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Englishpleiful
- Englishplayful
From Middle English pleiful, equivalent to play + -ful.
More words from Middle English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek παιγνιώδης
- παιγνιώδης (paigniṓdēs)liking or prone to play
Arabic دَاعِب, لَعُوب
- دَاعِب (dāʕib)liking or prone to play
- لَعُوب (laʕūb)liking or prone to play
Bulgarian игрив, шеговит
- игрив (igriv)liking or prone to play
- шеговит (šegovit)funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- закачлив (zakačliv)funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Catalan enjogassat, juganer
- enjogassatliking or prone to play
- juganerliking or prone to play
Czech hravý, laškovný
- hravýliking or prone to play
- laškovnýfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- humornýfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- rozpustilýfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- žertovnýfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- žertovnýfun, recreational, not serious
Esperanto petolema, ŝercema
- petolemaliking or prone to play
- ŝercemafunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Finnish leikkisä, hauska
- leikkisäliking or prone to play
- hauskafunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- hauskafun, recreational, not serious
- viihdyttäväfun, recreational, not serious
French folâtre, enjoué
- folâtreliking or prone to play
- enjouéliking or prone to play
- joueurliking or prone to play
German verspielt
- verspieltliking or prone to play
Greek παιχνιδιάρης
- παιχνιδιάρης (paichnidiáris)liking or prone to play
Hebrew אוהב משחקים, משתעשע
- אוהב משחקים (ohev misḥakim)liking or prone to play
- משתעשע (mishta'shea)liking or prone to play
- משתובב (mishtovev)liking or prone to play
- עליז (a'liz)funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- משעשע (mesha'shea)funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Irish cleasach
- cleasachfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Italian giocherellone, giocondo
- giocherelloneliking or prone to play
- giocondoliking or prone to play
- divertentefunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- buffofunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- ludicofun, recreational, not serious
Japanese 遊戯的
- 遊戯的 (yūgiteki)liking or prone to play
Latin lūdibundus, lascīvus
- lūdibundusliking or prone to play
- lascīvusfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Latvian draisks, jautrs
- draisksliking or prone to play
- jautrsliking or prone to play
- draisksfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- jautrsfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Māori pukutākaro, pūtakaro
- pukutākaroliking or prone to play
- pūtakaroliking or prone to play
Polish żartobliwy
- żartobliwyfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Portuguese brincalhão, divertido
- brincalhãoliking or prone to play
- divertidofunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- lúdicofun, recreational, not serious
Russian игри́вый, шутли́вый
- игри́вый (igrívyj)liking or prone to play
- шутли́вый (šutlívyj)funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Scottish Gaelic cluicheach
- cluicheachliking or prone to play
Spanish juguetón, divertido
- juguetónliking or prone to play
- divertidofunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
Swedish lekfull
- lekfullliking or prone to play
Turkish oyuncu, oyunbaz
- oyunculiking or prone to play
- oyunbazliking or prone to play
Welsh chwaraegar, chwareus
- chwaraegarliking or prone to play
- chwareusliking or prone to play
- chwareusfunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- digriffunny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome
- chwareusfun, recreational, not serious
- cellweirusfun, recreational, not serious
- digriffun, recreational, not serious
Yiddish שפּילעוודיק
- שפּילעוודיק (shpilevdik)liking or prone to play
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with playful
All rhymes →Cite this entry
playful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/playful
“playful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/playful. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “playful,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/playful.
Source: playful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.