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

But Tomon, who was visiting his home city of Budapest, found time to toy with the Cayley graph. —Leila Sloman, Quanta Magazine, 28 Jan. 2026

In one particular instance on a bus, Chiarella, knowing that the viewer will be on high alert, expertly toys with expectations. —Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026

And conveniently, the legs from an old pair of jeans are the perfect size for easily crafting a dog toy with basic sewing skills. —Heather Bien, Martha Stewart, 27 Jan. 2026

Many of those states are toying with doing so. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 25 Jan. 2026