Meaning

Primary

To Toy With

Alternatives

To Play With, To Flirt, To Kid

Word Type

intransitive verb, ichidan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means play, so the verb version is to play with or to toy with someone.

Reading

たわむれる
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

Everyone always seems to yell at you when you start to toy with your towel and your towel moves (たわむ). Just because you don't have anything on under it doesn't mean you can't play with it! Right?!

Context

Context Sentences

子犬と戯れている少女の写真を撮りました。

I took a picture of the puppy and the girl playing with it.

Kanji Composition