What does PLAYFUL mean?

Definitions for PLAYFUL
ˈpleɪ fəlplay·ful

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word PLAYFUL.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. playfuladjective

    full of fun and high spirits

    "playful children just let loose from school"

Wiktionary

  1. playfuladjective

    liking play, prone to play frequently, such as a child or kitten; rather sportive.

    Actually, we are pretty playful in our romantic life.

  2. playfuladjective

    funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome.

  3. playfuladjective

    fun, recreational, not serious.

    A brainteaser is a playful puzzle posed as a test of intelligence.

  4. playfuladjective

    experimental.

    He was a rather playful artist.

  5. Etymology: From pleiful, equivalent to.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Playfuladjective

    Sportive; full of levity.

    Etymology: play and full.

    He is scandalized at youth for being lively, and at childhood for being playful. Joseph Addison, Spectator, №. 494.

Wikipedia

  1. playful

    Play is a range of intrinsically motivated activities done for recreational pleasure and enjoyment. Play is commonly associated with children and juvenile-level activities, but may be engaged in at any life stage, and among other higher-functioning animals as well, most notably mammals and birds. Many prominent researchers in the field of psychology, including Melanie Klein, Jean Piaget, William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Lev Vygotsky have erroneously viewed play as confined to the human species, believing play was important for human development and using different research methods to prove their theories. Play is often interpreted as frivolous; yet the player can be intently focused on their objective, particularly when play is structured and goal-oriented, as in a game. Accordingly, play can range from relaxed, free-spirited and spontaneous through frivolous to planned or even compulsive. Play is not just a pastime activity; it has the potential to serve as an important tool in numerous aspects of daily life for adolescents, adults, and cognitively advanced non-human species (such as primates). Not only does play promote and aid in physical development (such as hand-eye coordination), but it also aids in cognitive development and social skills, and can even act as a stepping stone into the world of integration, which can be a very stressful process. Play is something that most children partake in, but the way play is executed is different between cultures and the way that children engage with play varies universally.

ChatGPT

  1. playful

    Playful refers to showing a light-hearted, lively, energetic, and typically spontaneous behavior that is full of fun and amusement. This term can be used to describe not only people, especially children, but also animals who engage in activities for enjoyment or relaxation rather than a serious or practical purpose.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Playfuladjective

    sportive; gamboling; frolicsome; indulging a sportive fancy; humorous; merry; as, a playful child; a playful writer

Suggested Resources

  1. playful

    Song lyrics by playful -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by playful on the Lyrics.com website.

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce PLAYFUL?

How to say PLAYFUL in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of PLAYFUL in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of PLAYFUL in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of PLAYFUL in a Sentence

  1. MG:

    I’m a show off!, Doesn’t mean that I’m settled off. When you bypass everything, There isn’t anything. I got stranded, played and cheated, Yet, I’m here playing hard hearted! I may be a pessimist, Still, no point being realistic. Never it’s love or lust, It’s always, a playful dust.

  2. Morgan Wallen:

    I was around some of my friends, and we just... we say dumb stuff together, and it was -- in our minds, it's playful... that sounds ignorant, but it -- that's really where it came from... and it's wrong.

  3. Morgan Wallen:

    I was around some of my friends and we just, we say dumb stuff together. In our minds it's playful. It sounds ignorant but that's really where it came from, and it's wrong, we were all clearly drunk and I was asking his girlfriend to take care of him because he was drunk and he was leaving. I didn't mean it in any derogatory manner at all.

  4. Gordana Biernat:

    Don't fear change. Surprise is the only way to new discoveries. Be playful!

  5. Eric Hoffer:

    The Paleolithic hunters who painted the unsurpassed animal murals on the ceiling of the cave at Altamira had only rudimentary tools. Art is older than production for use, and play older than work. Man was shaped less by what he had to do than by what he did in playful moments. It is the child in man that is the source of his uniqueness and creativeness, and the playground is the optimal milieu for the unfolding of his capacities.

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Translations for PLAYFUL

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"PLAYFUL." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 19 Jan. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/PLAYFUL>.

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