SUMMARY
The article is devoted to revealing the influence of gender on verbal behavior of old age respondents within the framework of research the stimulus word “playfulness” as a relevant token in language consciousness of the Ukrainian residents. The sample comprised 376 respondents: 194 females and 182 males.The universal features of verbal behavior of respondents (the results yielded from the first reaction) are reflected in the following lexemes: «joy», «coquetry», «kitten», «children», «delight», «laughter», «mood», «prank», «briskness», «love», «smile», «joke», «horse», «animals», «fun», «mischievousness», «excitement», «lightness».The specific features are implemented, among others, in such lexemes as: «joy», “gladness”, “kindness”, “woman”, “fun”, “cunning”, “spontaneity”, “intelligent”, “flirt”, “jokes”, “humorous”. The influence of gender is reflected in such female associates as “coquetry”, “smile”, “mood”, “sun”, “enthusiasm”, “success”, “happiness”, and male – “love”, “tricks”, “vitality”.Among singular reactions to stimulus word «playfulness» there are some reactions with negative connotation: «a glance of a prostitute», «loose morals», «provoking», «a gold-digger», «thoughtless», «capricious», «light-heartedness».On the whole, old age respondents show a positive attitude to the stimulus word «playfulness» and estimate it as something positive.