play hard to get
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Deliberately adopt an aloof or uninterested attitude.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Có thái độ xa cách hoặc không quan tâm một cách cố ý
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
I'm sure I can think of someone else who'll be more than willing to admit they want me instead of playing hard to get!
There was no point in playing hard to get.
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 hard to get” mean?
Deliberately adopt an aloof or uninterested attitude.
Is “play hard to get” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.