Synonyms of toy

toy 1 of 3

verb

1

as in to play

to engage in activity for amusement

the cat toyed with the mouse it had caught, batting it about

Synonyms & Similar Words

• play
• sport
• recreate
• entertain
• frolic
• joke
• amuse
• relax
• romp
• disport
• delight
• rollick
• tease
• trifle
• skylark
• rest
• gambol
• please
• cavort
• frisk
• dabble
• dally
• hang
• fiddle (around)
• idle
• loaf
• lounge (around or about)
• divert
• bum (around)
• putter (around)
• hang about
• screw around
• dawdle
• slack (off)
• jest
• goldbrick
• mess around

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slave
• work
• labor
• struggle
• plug (away)
• strive
• strain
• toil
• sweat
• drudge
• plod

2

as in to flirt

to show a sexual attraction for someone just for fun

likes to toy with men whom she has no intention of actually dating

Synonyms & Similar Words

• flirt
• trifle
• coquette
• coquet
• kid
• tease
• woo
• frivol
• mess around
• vamp
• rib
• play (with)
• court
• mash
• lead on
• fool
• put on
• dally
• manipulate
• razz
• string along
• josh

toy

2 of 3

adjective

as in toylike

Related Words

• toylike
• dwarf
• small
• pocket
• miniature
• dinky
• little
• pocket-size
• diminutive
• pygmy
• mini
• smallish
• puny
• half-pint
• undersize
• tiny
• subnormal
• undersized
• Lilliputian
• pocket-sized
• pint-sized
• dwarfish
• micro
• pint-size
• microscopic
• scrubby
• slight
• wee
• shrimpy
• microscopical
• teeny
• stunted
• bantam
• bitty
• infinitesimal
• minuscule
• runtish
• weeny
• pinpoint
• fine
• teensy
• miniaturized
• runty
• skimpy
• spare
• sparse
• slender
• scanty
• minikin
• scarce
• little bitty
• minute
• minim
• meager
• scant
• inappreciable
• wanting
• teeny-weeny
• poor
• meagre
• weensy
• inadequate
• stingy
• slim
• capsule
• lacking
• insufficient
• teensy-weensy
• deficient
• skimp
• bite-size
• bite-sized

Dissimilar Words

• large
• big
• great
• substantial
• grand
• oversized
• considerable
• husky
• giant
• handsome
• sizeable
• sizable
• massive
• bulky
• oversize
• huge
• gigantic
• tidy
• outsized
• goodly
• whopping
• enormous
• mammoth
• outsize
• jumbo
• vast
• galactic
• colossal
• boxcar
• gross
• monstrous
• monumental
• voluminous
• titanic
• tremendous
• heroic
• hefty
• mountainous
• monolithic
• immense
• prodigious
• cavernous
• healthy
• humongous
• gargantuan
• liberal
• cyclopean
• stupendous
• staggering
• ample
• king-size
• whacking
• overscaled
• generous
• overscale
• largish
• Himalayan
• abundant
• appreciable
• wide
• copious
• king-sized
• bountiful
• fat
• plentiful
• broad
• biggish
• hulking
• thick
• leviathan
• herculean
• elephantine
• infinite
• cosmic
• pharaonic
• humungous
• heroical
• plenteous
• enough
• adequate
• sufficient
• Brobdingnagian
• boundless
• Bunyanesque
• incalculable
• immeasurable
• cosmical

toy

3 of 3

noun

as in miniature

Related Words

• miniature
• mini
• midget
• scrub
• diminutive
• runt
• pigmy
• dwarf
• mite
• peewee
• pygmy

Dissimilar Words

• giant
• monster
• mammoth
• jumbo
• colossus
• behemoth
• whale
• leviathan
• titan
• whopper

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb toy differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of toy are coquet, dally, flirt, and trifle. While all these words mean "to deal with or act toward without serious purpose," toy implies acting without full attention or serious exertion of one's powers.

a political novice toying with great issues

When can coquet be used instead of toy?

While in some cases nearly identical to toy, coquet implies attracting interest or admiration without serious intention.

companies that coquet with environmentalism solely for public relations

When would dally be a good substitute for toy?

In some situations, the words dally and toy are roughly equivalent. However, dally suggests indulging in thoughts or plans merely as an amusement.

dallying with the idea of building a boat someday

In what contexts can flirt take the place of toy?

The words flirt and toy are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, flirt implies an interest or attention that soon passes to another object.

flirted with one fashionable ism after another

When could trifle be used to replace toy?

The meanings of trifle and toy largely overlap; however, trifle may imply playfulness, unconcern, indulgent contempt.

to trifle with a lover's feelings

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of toy

Verb

That's why the Chron Shopping team has picked out some of our favorite non-toy gifts for kids to keep children engaged, active, and happy. —Micolette Davis, Chron, 19 Nov. 2020

Try Amazon’s own toy subscription service, which boasts a subscription for children aged 3 to 13. —Popular Science, 11 Oct. 2019

Adjective

Other than food, many school supplies and a lot of brand-new toys used for birthdays and Christmas were also damaged, including boxes of posters donated from Walmart that were destroyed by the water. —Erik S. Hanley, jsonline.com, 14 Aug. 2025

MrBeast also sells various merchandise, including basketballs, as well as toys, candy, apparel and school supplies through the MrBeast online retail store and Amazon, Shopify and Walmart’s marketplace seller. —Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 13 Aug. 2025

Noun

Crystal Palace After toying in the past with the idea of returning to the club’s original home a couple of miles across south London in Crystal Palace Park, plans to redevelop Selhurst Park (an idea first floated by then chairman Ron Noades in the 1990s) were announced in 2017. —Tom Burrows, The Athletic, 23 Mar. 2025

That applies to its attractive cast, each actor relishing the chance to toy around with his or her castmates and doing so with crisp timing and so much panache. —Randy Myers, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2025

Phrases Containing toy

• toy (with)