play games
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Deal with someone or something in a way that lacks due seriousness.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Thiếu nghiêm túc khi đối phó với ai hoặc cái gì
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Stop playing games, Luke — there isn't time for that.
‘ I told you, I'm not playing games with you.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “play games” mean?
Deal with someone or something in a way that lacks due seriousness.
Is “play games” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.