Word of the Day

Sunday, July 04, 2004

ludic

\LOO-dik\ , adjective;

Of or relating to play; characterized by play; playful.

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Quotes:

Um, there's only one problem: her mother. Who, being a substantial executive, has a somewhat different attitude to the worth of the professions than her wastrel, ludic husband.

-- Pat Kane, "Pleasing papa", The Guardian, July 11, 2001

He is indeed the outstanding imaginative prose stylist of his generation, with an entirely recognizable literary manner, fizzy and playful (I am trying to avoid the words "pyrotechnic" and "ludic").

-- Geoffrey Wheatcroft, "What Kingsley Can Teach Martin", The Atlantic, September 2000

But within this ludic tale there lurks a tragedy of love and loss that does not lose its tenderness even when embedded in [the author's] perpetually farcical frame of mind.

-- Richard Bernstein, "Lalita, Post-Modern Object of Desire", New York Times, September 8, 1999

Origin:

Ludic derives from Latin ludus, "play." Ludicrous, "amusing or laughable," shares the same root.