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PlainSpell

toy

/tɔɪ/noun, verb, adjective

toy is spelled T-O-Y: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, toy means “Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of toy is toys.

How many letters and syllables are in toy?

Letters3: T-O-Y
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing20 times per million words; the 4,302nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is toy?

Toy appears 20 times per million words in written English, the 4,302nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce toy?

  • US /tɔɪ/
  • /taɪ/
  • /tɑɪ/

Toy has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-toy.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with toy?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as toy from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɪ/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: yot.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of toy

  • toys plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • toying participle, present
  • toyed participle, past
  • more toy comparative
  • most toy superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does toy mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Something to play with, especially as intended for use by a child.

    A grown man like him does not play with a child’s toy.

  2. 2

    A thing of little importance or value; a trifle.

  3. 3

    A simple, light piece of music, written especially for the virginal.

  4. 4

    Ellipsis of toy dog.

  5. 5

    obsoleteLove play, amorous dalliance; fondling.

  6. 6

    obsoleteA vague fancy, a ridiculous idea or notion; a whim.

  7. 7

    obsoleteAn old story; a silly tale.

  8. 8

    ScotlandarchaicA headdress of linen or wool that hangs down over the shoulders, worn by elderly women of the lower classes.

verb

  1. 1

    To play (with) in an idle or desultory way.

    to toy with a piece of food on one’s plate

  2. 2

    To ponder or consider.

    I have been toying with the idea of starting my own business.

  3. 3

    slangTo stimulate with a sex toy.

adjective

  1. 1

    Impractical or unsuitable for real-world use, due to being unrealistically small or simple.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Toy in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchjouet (something to play with), jouer (avec), s'amuser (avec) (to play with), caresser (une idée), triturer (to ponder or consider)
GermanSpielzeug (something to play with), herumspielen, spielen (to play with)
Portuguesebrinquedo (something to play with), jogar (to play with)
Spanishjuguete (something to play with), jugar / juguetear [con] (to play with), darle vueltas a una idea (to ponder or consider)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does toy come from?

Inherited from Middle English toye (“amorous play, piece of fun or entertainment”), probably from Middle Dutch toy, tuyg (“tools, apparatus, utensil, ornament”) as in Dutch speel-tuig (“plaything, toy”), from Old Dutch *tiug, from Proto-West Germanic *tiugī̆, *teug, from Proto-Germanic *teugą (“stuff, matter, device, gear, lever”, literally “that which is drawn or pulled”), from Proto-Germanic *teuhaną (“to lead, bring, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull, lead”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after toy