1
as in playing
to engage in activity for amusement
the cat toyed with the mouse it had caught, batting it about
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in flirting
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
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of toying
The age-gap romance is one that Statsky said the writers have been toying around with for quite some time.
—
Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 3 Apr. 2026
The bill is the result of six years of studying and toying around the edges of PBM issues.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 9 Apr. 2025
Julia Moore, PEOPLE, 3 Apr. 2026
The bill is the result of six years of studying and toying around the edges of PBM issues.
—Kayla Dwyer, IndyStar, 9 Apr. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toying
Verb
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As the Ado Annie-like Betsy, a horny teen-ager whose father owns a shotgun, Kurtz is playing a character who should be, and kind of is, a one-joke punch line.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
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Twin sisters Jordan and Jaedyn Gomez, playing for Boone, lost their second round individual bracket doubles match 6-0, 6-0 against Doral Academy’s top seeded duo of Payton Seidle-Lubowitz and Stefany Zamora.—
Buddy Collings,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Harper scored 27 points off the bench, flirting with the Spurs’ playoff record for most in a game by a 20-year-old.—
Jeff McDonald,
San Antonio Express-News,
25 Apr. 2026
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The clip then flashes back to a scene from season 1 of Hunt for Love, in which Elise was heavily flirting with Rob.—
Abigail Adams,
PEOPLE,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Vanity Fair spoke with the costume designer for the movie, Marci Rodgers, who had the heavy task of recreating Jackson’s world through fashion.—
Kia D. Goosby,
Vanity Fair,
25 Apr. 2026
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Fuqua even shot an entire action sequence recreating the infamous 1993 raid on Neverland Ranch, which culminated in police officers strip-searching Jackson and examining his genitals to compare them with Chandler’s description.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
23 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Toying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toying. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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