1.
wordplay; word game; play on words
Creative or humorous use of language for amusement, including puns, riddles, rhymes, and other linguistic games.
子供と言葉遊びをして楽しんだ。
I had fun playing word games with the children.
しりとりは日本の代表的な言葉遊びだ。
Shiritori is a representative Japanese word game.
落語には巧みな言葉遊びがたくさん含まれていて、聞き取るのが難しいこともある。
Rakugo contains a lot of clever wordplay, which can sometimes be difficult to catch.
A compound of 言葉 (words) + 遊び (play). Covers a wide range of linguistic play, from children's games like しりとり (word chain) and なぞなぞ (riddles) to sophisticated literary puns and 掛け言葉 (double-meaning words) in poetry and comedy.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 言葉遊びをする — do wordplay, play word games
- 言葉遊びが好き — like wordplay
- 巧みな言葉遊び — clever wordplay
- 言葉遊びの本 — word game book
SIMILAR WORDS:
- 駄洒落 — pun, bad joke; a specific type of wordplay, often groan-inducing
- 掛け言葉 — double entendre, pivot word; a classical rhetorical technique using words with double meanings
- 地口 — a type of pun based on similar-sounding phrases; more literary and traditional