How do you pronounce playful?

The recorded pronunciation is /ˈpleɪfl̩/.

Where does playful come from?

It is traced to Middle English.

playful

/ˈpleɪfl̩/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.53 in modern English

Syllables: play-ful
IPA: /ˈpleɪfl̩/

Scrabble Score

Letters

Syllables

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Enjoying play; sportive; prone to playing frequently, in the manner of a child or young pet (viz. puppy or kitten).

adj

Funny; humorous; jesty; frolicsome; frisky.

adj

Fun; recreational; unserious.

adj

Experimental.

Example Sentences

"Actually, we are pretty playful in our romantic life."
"John is a playful fellow."
"A party hat is a playful conical hat people wear at parties."
"Why this already very fast train should be speeded up still further, when none of the other more easily timed S.R. West of England trains has a single minute pared from its schedule, is unexplained - unless this is a playful dig at the Western Region, most of whose expresses, by reason of additional stops, will be decelerated from the same date."
"A brainteaser is a playful puzzle posed as a test of intelligence."
"He was a rather playful artist."

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: pleiful
Suffix: play

Inflected Forms

playfuller (comparative) more playful (comparative) playfullest (superlative) most playful (superlative) playfull (alternative)

Derived Forms

nonplayful overplayful playfully playfulness unplayful

Phrases

playful as a kitten

Rhymes With

sleighful trayful preyful swayful dismayful gayful