Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for plaything. Search instead for playthings.
Synonyms

plaything

American  
[play-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.

See Examples For:

For years, Cadiz shares traded as a sort of plaything for water investors hoping for a big score over the horizon — what craps players call “betting on the come.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

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

Maddened by that prodigious plaything, José Arcadio followed her path every night through the labyrinth of the room.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 14,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training