noun
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a toy
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a person regarded or treated as a toy
he thinks she is just his plaything
Etymology
Origin of plaything
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.
Autos were no longer a “devilish plaything of the gilded class,” Mr. Moskowitz tells us.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026
Famously, he set a Barbie doll on fire to protest Greta Gerwig’s movie portraying the doll as a woman with agency, rather than a passive plaything.
From Salon • Jul. 7, 2025
"Wombats are not a photo prop or plaything."
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2025
Red Lobster became a plaything for financial engineers, a condition that almost never — if ever — leads to an improved consumer experience and greater profits in the long term.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2024
Kira scolded the little dog affectionately when he tried to use her cane as a plaything to chew.
From "Messenger" by Lois Lowry
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.
