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Recent Examples of playfully
The basketball star playfully pinched his son’s cheek after the United States team beat Venezuela.
—
Alexandra Hurtado, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Highly creative professionals often approach work playfully.
—Cas Holman, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
The black-and-white images are clean and simple of the Hollywood star being playfully in bed or on the couch.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2025
Urban responded playfully by dropping to the ground, raising his arm as the crowd erupted in laughter, before popping back up to continue the show.
—Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 18 Oct. 2025
The ruched toe boxes are another style that playfully subverts the classic loafer design, offering an unfussy ease that helps soften more masculine tailoring.
—Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 17 Oct. 2025
Maybe that’s a delicate dance even for Drinkwitz, who invoked the Alabama game several times but semi-playfully chided the media for relevant questions about the stuff that plainly needs to be shored up.
—Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2025
The late High Modernist architect and educator Charles Gwathmey created a body of work defined by playfully bold geometric forms and a spare use of adornment employed with formal elegance.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 8 Oct. 2025
The former White House communications director, 36, playfully shared the news while the hosts were reminiscing on past embarrassing moments as part of their Hot Topics segment.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 8 Oct. 2025
Alexandra Hurtado, PEOPLE, 23 Oct. 2025
Highly creative professionals often approach work playfully.
—Cas Holman, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2025
The black-and-white images are clean and simple of the Hollywood star being playfully in bed or on the couch.
—Hikmat Mohammed, Footwear News, 20 Oct. 2025
Urban responded playfully by dropping to the ground, raising his arm as the crowd erupted in laughter, before popping back up to continue the show.
—Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 18 Oct. 2025
The ruched toe boxes are another style that playfully subverts the classic loafer design, offering an unfussy ease that helps soften more masculine tailoring.
—Jake Henry Smith, Glamour, 17 Oct. 2025
Maybe that’s a delicate dance even for Drinkwitz, who invoked the Alabama game several times but semi-playfully chided the media for relevant questions about the stuff that plainly needs to be shored up.
—Kansas City Star, 15 Oct. 2025
The late High Modernist architect and educator Charles Gwathmey created a body of work defined by playfully bold geometric forms and a spare use of adornment employed with formal elegance.
—Mark David, Robb Report, 8 Oct. 2025
The former White House communications director, 36, playfully shared the news while the hosts were reminiscing on past embarrassing moments as part of their Hot Topics segment.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 8 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for playfully
Adverb
-
The umpire called Robinson safe, while Berra animatedly disagreed.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
18 Oct. 2025
-
MrBeast, the internet personality most famous for his videos documenting random acts of extreme charity, is in shorts, animatedly talking and gesturing with his hands.—
Chris Quintana,
USA Today,
12 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
Small and mid-sized countries that were energetically pursuing Security Council reform have backed off and are waiting for a clear signal of what—if anything—Trump will say about it.—
Richard Gowan,
Time,
22 Sep. 2025
-
That means that those kids had likely been playing energetically and enjoying their toddler life just before getting sick.—
Pia Pannaraj,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
19 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
The song's interplay between choir and orchestra is buoyantly euphoric, opening a door to bolder, more intentionally progressive and soulful sounds in the country's mainstream.—
Marcus K. Dowling,
The Tennessean,
2 May 2025
Adverb
-
The story starts to unfold more briskly once Nolan gets Tully to agree to exchange Elsbeth for the increasingly and very loudly distraught store staffer in costume as Raggedy Ann.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
17 Oct. 2025
-
The Giants briskly filled that need by signing the top free-agent shortstop on the market to a seven-year, $182 million contract.—
Andrew Baggarly,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
While skittishly edited, the film nevertheless builds up Faithfull’s biography in basic chronological order.—
Leslie Felperin,
HollywoodReporter,
31 Aug. 2025
Adverb
-
His disdain for Christmas is no match for visits from enchanting ghosts, a lively ensemble of characters, and the music of the season.—
Kirby Adams,
Louisville Courier Journal,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Music comes through with clean highs and enough bass to keep things lively at everyday listening levels.—
Shubham Yewale,
PC Magazine,
12 Sep. 2025
Adverb
-
Then again, maybe $1,000 just rolls trippingly off the tongue and into Trump’s good graces.—
Stephen Gandel,
The Seattle Times,
3 Feb. 2018
-
One man, whose arrogance and ego lead him trippingly into chaos of his own making, can turn a shining city on the hill into a shadowy, taudry replica of itself. …—
James Hohmann,
Washington Post,
14 July 2017
Cite this Entry
“Playfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playfully. Accessed 27 Oct. 2025.
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