playfully

adverb

as in friskily

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of playfully The second photo shows the two exes playfully making screaming faces and doing claw gestures with their hands as Austin held them back from each other with his arms. — Erin Clack, PEOPLE, 26 July 2026 Some sodas are playfully topped with cotton candy, like the cotton candy cloud ($10), a lurid blue drink made with Starry lemon-lime soda with vanilla and blue raspberry syrups and cream. — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 21 July 2026 Ranch appeared to take the World Cup by storm, at one point even drawing a response from the TSA, which playfully warned fans about bringing bottles out of the country. — Rohan Nadkarni, NBC news, 19 July 2026 On these occasions, she’s often stolen the show while playfully interacting with cousins Prince George and Princess Charlotte. — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 13 July 2026 The account currently boasts almost 185,000 followers, with a video of Louie and Barley playfully wrestling generating nearly two million views. — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 13 July 2026 His employees had posed playfully for photos over the body of a woman who had died by suicide. — Joaquin Sapien, ProPublica, 30 June 2026 The controversy began after Aiken playfully placed his hand over Ripa's mouth during a live segment. — Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2026 Heck, even 78-year-old coach Dick Advocaat, the oldest man ever to coach a World Cup game, on Friday playfully suggested Curaçao’s best path to victory would be if Ecuador was down four players. — Kansas City Star, 21 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for playfully
  1. animatedly
  2. airily
  3. energetically
  4. buoyantly
  5. briskly
  6. skittishly
  7. lively
  8. crisply
Adverb
  • Threading through the film is Sienkiewicz’s own voice animatedly discussing his process and approach.
    — Rob Salkowitz, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
  • Alqasimi speaks animatedly about Alfred Hitchcock’s framing techniques in midcentury films like Rear Window and Rope, and the idea of withholding a complete view in order to sustain curiosity.
    — Mona Basharat, Architectural Digest, 25 June 2026
Definition of animatedly
Adverb
  • Still, while these surfaces are clearly meant to reflect deeper emotional and cultural truths, Coppola’s mining of them is done glancingly, airily.
    — Naomi Fry, New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2026
Definition of airily
Adverb
  • Plenty of his peers filled the void, none more energetically than Chesney, who has by now built a beachy brand that almost rivals Buffett’s.
    — Kelefa Sanneh, New Yorker, 19 July 2026
  • There was also a large contingent of Iranian fans who energetically waved the nation’s current flag.
    — Todd Harmonson, Oc Register, 16 June 2026
Definition of energetically
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
Definition of buoyantly
Adverb
  • On Saturday morning, which coincided with Vroman’s summer sale, three separate registers had briskly moving lines of 15-20 people or more around the store.
    — Erik Pedersen, Daily News, 28 July 2026
  • Although this performance does dip into a reckoning with her more basic shadow self, Cohen brings Broad Strokes to its conclusion briskly and with minimal bathos.
    — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 28 July 2026
Definition of briskly
Adverb
  • The horse, not sensing any guidance on its ribcage, begins to move skittishly in tight, concentric circles.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Feb. 2026
  • While skittishly edited, the film nevertheless builds up Faithfull’s biography in basic chronological order.
    — Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 31 Aug. 2025
Definition of skittishly
Adverb
  • The peach came through clearly, though ginger kept the drink lively enough for another sip.
    — Noel Burgess, Forbes.com, 20 July 2026
  • Order a bottle of César wine – a lively dry white produced for the sister hotel in Lanzarote and only available through this collection of hotels.
    — Jonathan Samuels, TheWeek, 17 July 2026
Definition of lively
Adverb
  • The Aston, on the other hand, dutifully and crisply responds to inputs.
    — Byron Hurd, The Drive, 23 July 2026
  • Sometimes the footage is blurred, as if Zidane is briefly underwater; other times it’s crisply focused.
    — Sebastian Smee, The Atlantic, 11 July 2026
Definition of crisply

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playful
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Cite this Entry

“Playfully.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playfully. Accessed 31 Jul. 2026.

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