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plaything

American  
[pley-thing] / ˈpleɪˌθɪŋ /

noun

  1. a thing to play with; toy.

  2. a person who is used capriciously and selfishly by another.

plaything British  
/ ˈpleɪˌθɪŋ /

noun

  1. a toy

  2. a person regarded or treated as a toy

    he thinks she is just his plaything
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of plaything

First recorded in 1665–75; play + thing 1

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.

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," said Suzanne Milthorpe, Head of Campaigns at World Animal Protection Australia, in a statement online.

From BBC • Mar. 13, 2025

And you feel like you’re just a plaything for life.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2025

Here at the Walker Art Center, a weighty and ambitious exhibition reorients American audiences toward a generation of artists, writers and musicians for whom free expression was no plaything and no luxury.

From New York Times • Jan. 11, 2024

So Aphrodite went to Cupid and told him she would give him a lovely plaything, a ball of shining gold and deep blue enamel, if he would do what she wanted.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton

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.