playful

English

Alternative forms

• playfull (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English pleiful, equivalent to play +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈpleɪfəl/, X-SAMPA: /"pleIf@l/
• Rhymes: -eɪfəl, -eɪfʊl

Adjective

playful (comparative playfuller or more playful, superlative playfullest or most playful)

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

   Actually, we are pretty playful in our romantic life.

2. funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome.

   John is a playful fellow.

   A party hat is a playful conical hat people wear at parties.

3. fun, recreational, not serious.

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

4. experimental.

   He was a rather playful artist.

Derived terms

• playfully
• playfulness

Translations

liking or prone to play

• Czech: hravý (cs)
• Esperanto: petolema (eo)
• Finnish: leikkisä (fi)
• French: folâtre (fr) m, enjoué (fr) m, joueur (fr) m
• Greek: παιχνιδιάρης (el) (paichnidiáris)
• Hebrew: אוהב משחקים (he) (ohev misḥakim) m, משתעשע (he) (mishta'shea) m, משתובב (he) (mishtovev) m

• Latvian: draisks (lv), jautrs (lv)
• Macedonian: игрив (mk) (ígriv) m, разигран (mk) (rázigran) m
• Russian: игривый (ru) (igrívyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: zaigran (sh) m
• Spanish: juguetón (es) m
• Turkish: oyuncu (tr), oyunbaz (tr)

funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome

• Hebrew: עליז (he) (a'liz) m, משעשע (he) (mesha'shea) m
• Latvian: draisks (lv), jautrs (lv)
• Macedonian: шеговит (mk) (šégovit) m, палав (mk) (pálav) m

• Polish: żartobliwy (pl) m
• Russian: шутливый (ru) (šutlívyj)
• Spanish: divertido (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: speels
• German: verspielt

• Italian: scherzoso, allegro
• Norwegian: leken
• Russian: игривый (igrívyj)