toy with

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

The sovereignty of our countries is fragile, always at risk, and not something to be toyed with. —Carlos Manuel Alvarez, Time, 24 Apr. 2026

Hendrix toyed with the idea of having Mason play in the Experience, a notion that didn’t come to fruition. —Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2026

After toying with bans on specific companies, like TP-Link, the White House decided to go after all foreign manufacturing of Wi-Fi routers, effectively pushing the entire industry to migrate the supply chain to the US. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 17 Apr. 2026

The death came after the show toyed with viewers regarding Vanessa's fate over the course of two episodes. —Brendan Morrow, USA Today, 15 Apr. 2026