wordplay
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of wordplay
Explanation
When you use language in a witty, clever way, you use wordplay. A pun like "the chicken crossing the road was poultry in motion" is an example of wordplay. Wordplay, a word that dates from the mid-1850s, simply means "playing with words." Besides puns, wordplay includes verbal games like double entendres and literary techniques such as meaningful character names — like the werewolf Remus Lupin in the Harry Potter books, whose last name comes from "wolf" in Latin, lupus. Another type of wordplay is a "Tom Swifty," a phrase linking an adverb to a sentence with a pun: "I hate shellfish," she said crabbily.
Vocabulary lists containing wordplay
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is interesting how this euphemism in particular has gained such widespread use, though of course the practice of wordplay is really anything but new.
From Salon • May 8, 2026
The narrative wanders through exuberant wordplay and digressions that can become distracting.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026
And Amy Nicholson of the LA Times concluded: "William Shakespeare wouldn't be wowed by this domestic drama about his home life back in Stratford-upon-Avon. Where's the action? The wit? The wordplay?"
From BBC • Jan. 2, 2026
He spun wordplay, philosophical debates and scientific principles into popular theatrical entertainment, landing a string of West End and Broadway hits, and won a best-screenplay Oscar for the smash Hollywood film “Shakespeare in Love.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 29, 2025
There is none of the humor or wordplay or cleverness that characterizes Sesame Street.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
