Home › Words › P › playthingplaything/ˈpleɪ.θɪŋ/plaything means used for the purpose of play or amusement.plaything is pronounced /ˈpleɪ.θɪŋ/.EtymologyFrom play + thing.adjUsed for the purpose of play or amusement.e.g.“Like the cards which form a child's plaything palace, our pleasures are nicely balanced one upon the other.” — 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter II, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 17:nounA thing or person intended for playing with.A person at the mercy of fate.e.g.“We talk of our energies and of our will—we are the mere playthings of subtle and malignant chances.” — 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 297:Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).