toy with

phrasal verb

toyed with; toying with; toys with

1

: to think about (something) briefly and not very seriously

I toyed with the idea of moving to France but ended up staying here.

2

: to move or touch (something) with one's fingers often without thinking

She toyed with her hair while she talked on the phone.

3

: to deal with or control (someone or something) in a clever and usually unfair or selfish way

Do you really love me, or are you just toying with me?

Don't toy with my emotions.

Examples of toy with in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

One other consideration that may slow any dash by the Islamic Republic to cross the nuclear threshold and build a weapon is the potential threat of regime change, actively sought by Israel and toyed with, in recent days, by Trump. —Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 24 June 2025

Several heads of industry have toyed with creating an imaginary staff, embracing the self-mirroring feedback loop of their output as a plus. —Sheldon Pearce, NPR, 17 June 2025

Song toys with broken hearts being as interchangeable as being literally financially broke. —Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 16 June 2025

Towards the beginning of the year, the pair started toying with the idea of launching a podcast. —Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025