playful

Etymology

From Middle English pleiful, equivalent to play + -ful.

adj

1. liking play, prone to play frequently, such as a child or kitten; rather sportive.
   Actually, we are pretty playful in our romantic life.
2. funny, humorous, jesting, frolicsome.
   John is a playful fellow.
   A party hat is a playful conical hat people wear at parties.
   Why this already very fast train should be speeded up still further, when none of the other more easily timed S.R. West of England trains has a single minute pared from its schedule, is unexplained - unless this is a playful dig at the Western Region, most of whose expresses, by reason of additional stops, will be decelerated from the same date. 1961 October, “The winter timetables of British Railways: Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 593
3. fun, recreational, not serious.
   A brainteaser is a playful puzzle posed as a test of intelligence.
4. experimental.
   He was a rather playful artist.