玩玩 (wán wán) — to play a bit; to have a little fun; to do some…

Definition

Reduplicated 玩 (wán) — softer, briefer, more casual than plain 'play'; signals just fooling around or trying something lightly, not serious engagement.

verb

to play a bitto have a little funto do something casuallyto spend some time enjoying oneself

Examples

玩玩。
Zhōu mò wǒ men qù gōng yuán wán wán ba.
Let's go to the park this weekend and have some fun.
玩玩，。
Wǒ zhǐ shì suí biàn wán wán, méi rèn zhēn xué.
I was just messing around a bit; I didn't study seriously.
，玩玩。
Zhè ge yóu xì hěn hǎo wán, nǐ kě yǐ wán wán shì shì.
This game is very fun; you can try playing it a little.

Origin

Reduplicated word

构词法gòucífǎ

重叠chóngdiéReduplication

A syllable said twice — for affection, for softness, or simply because that is how the word is said.

玩wánplay

玩 gives the idea of playing, and the second 玩 makes it brief or casual.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

玉玉yùjade

Sound part声符shēngfú

元

元yuán玩wán

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

玩 pairs 玉 (jade) with 元 (yuán) for sound. The jade part points to toys made of jade.

Open 玩 →