English · Idiom Attested 18+

play the field

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

Indulge in a series of sexual relationships without commitment.

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

hẹn hò nhiều người mà không cam kết

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

So she had played the field, enjoying male company without getting in too deep or too seriously.

Play the field and score as often as possible.

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).

Equivalents & related

Near equivalent chăn rau (verb) to seduce and hook up with a young woman; to play the field Tiếng Việt

Common questions

What does “play the field” mean?

Indulge in a series of sexual relationships without commitment.

Is “play the field” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

What is the closest equivalent?

“chăn rau” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.