Definition

1. Verb:

   • To play: To engage in an activity for enjoyment and recreation rather than for a serious or practical purpose. This is the most common meaning.
   • To hang out / To socialize: To spend time with someone in a social, friendly context.
   • To trick / To play a trick on: To deceive someone, often in a mischievous or harmful way, treated as a form of amusement by the perpetrator.
   • To collect or engage with as a hobby: To pursue an activity or collect items as a pastime or serious leisure interest.
   • (Colloquial, of a child) To be healthy and active: Used to describe a child who is well, not sick, and playing normally.

2. Adverb (following a verb):

   • Just for fun / Not seriously: Indicates that an action is done in jest, without serious intent or consequence.

Usage Examples

• Verb:

  • Trẻ con chơi ngoài sân. (The children play in the yard.)
  • Tôi thích chơi đàn piano. (I like to play the piano.)
  • Họ chơi với nhau từ thời sinh viên. (They have hung out together since college.)
  • Nó chơi tôi một vố đau điếng. (He played a really bad trick on me.)
  • Ông ấy chơi tem rất sành. (He collects stamps very knowledgeably.)
  • Cháu bé ăn ngoan và chơi ngoan. (The baby eats well and is active/plays well [i.e., is healthy].)

• Adverb:

  • Tôi chỉ nói chơi thôi, đừng giận. (I was just saying it for fun, don't be angry.)
  • Anh ấy làm chơi mà thành công thật. (He did it just for fun/not seriously but actually succeeded.)

Advanced Usage

• "chơi đẹp": To play fair; to behave in a sportsmanlike, honorable, or classy way.

  • Dù thua, anh ấy vẫn chơi đẹp. (Even though he lost, he still played fair.)

• "chơi xấu": To play dirty; to use underhanded or unfair tactics.

  • Đối thủ chơi xấu nên bị thẻ đỏ. (The opponent played dirty and got a red card.)

Variants and Related Words

• Chơi bời (v): To engage in idle amusement, often with a connotation of frivolity or dissipation.

  • Cậu ấy suốt ngày chỉ biết chơi bời. (He spends all day just fooling around.)

• Đồ chơi (n): Toy.

  • Đứa trẻ rất thích đồ chơi mới. (The child really likes the new toy.)

• Bạn chơi (n): Playmate; friend (emphasizing the social/recreational aspect of the relationship).

  • Nó là bạn chơi thời thơ ấu của tôi. (He is my childhood playmate.)

Synonyms

• Play: To engage in activity for enjoyment.
• Socialize: To participate in social activities.
• Trick: To deceive someone as a joke or scheme.
• Hobby: An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure.

Related Idioms

• Dễ như chơi: (As) easy as pie; child's play. Indicates something is very simple to do.

  • Bài tập này dễ như chơi. (This exercise is a piece of cake.)

• Ăn chơi: To live a life of pleasure and indulgence, often involving spending money freely.

  • Anh ta nổi tiếng là tay ăn chơi. (He is known as a pleasure-seeker.)

• Chọn bạn mà chơi: (Proverb) Literally "Choose friends to play with." Means one should be careful in choosing their companions.

  • Mẹ tôi luôn dặn "Chọn bạn mà chơi". (My mother always advised, "Choose your friends carefully.")

verb

1. To play
   • trẻ con chơi ngoài sân
     the children played in the yard
   • dễ như chơi
     like child's play
   • chơi bài
     to play cards
   • chơi đàn piano
     to play piano
   • chơi bóng tròn
     to play football
   • chơi cho một vố đau
     to play a bad trick on someone
   • chơi khăm
     to play a nasty trick
   • khách làng chơi