Meanings
playmate1
plural playmates
- A companion for someone (especially a child) to play with.
An indulgent playmate, Grannie would lay aside the long scratchy-looking letter she was writing (heavily crossed ‘to save notepaper’) and enter into the delightful pastime of ‘a chicken from Mr Whiteley's’.
1977, Agatha Christie, chapter 4, in An Autobiography, part I, London: Collins, →ISBNSynonyms: playfellow
- euphemisticA person's lover.
Playmate2
plural Playmates
- A woman who has appeared as the centerfold in Playboy magazine.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA companion for someone (especially a child) to play with.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From play + mate. Compare earlier playfeer (“playmate”) of similar construction.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans speelmaat
- speelmaatcompanion to play with
Bulgarian друга́рче
- друга́рче (drugárče)companion to play with
Chinese Mandarin 玩伴
- 玩伴 (wánbàn)companion to play with
Danish legekammerat
- legekammeratcompanion to play with
Finnish leikkitoveri, leikkikaveri
- leikkitovericompanion to play with
- leikkikavericompanion to play with
- Playmatewoman who has appeared in Playboy magazine
French compagnon de jeux, playmate
- compagnon de jeuxcompanion to play with
- playmatewoman who has appeared in Playboy magazine
German Spielgefährte, Spielkamerad
- Spielgefährtecompanion to play with
- Spielkameradcompanion to play with
- Playmatewoman who has appeared in Playboy magazine
Hungarian játszótárs, playmate
- játszótárscompanion to play with
- playmatewoman who has appeared in Playboy magazine
Italian compagno/a di giochi, playmate
- compagno/a di giochicompanion to play with
- playmatewoman who has appeared in Playboy magazine
Latin collūsor, congerrō
- collūsorcompanion to play with
- congerrōcompanion to play with
Norwegian Bokmål lekekamerat
- lekekameratcompanion to play with
Portuguese playmate
- playmatewoman who has appeared in Playboy magazine
Romanian tovarăș de joacă
- tovarăș de joacăcompanion to play with
Russian това́рищ по играм
- това́рищ по играм (továrišč po igram)companion to play with
Spanish playmate
- playmatewoman who has appeared in Playboy magazine
Swedish lekkamrat
- lekkamratcompanion to play with
Tagalog kalaro
- kalarocompanion to play with
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
playmate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/playmate
“playmate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/playmate. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “playmate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/playmate.
Source: playmate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.