player

noun

play·​er ˈplā-ər 

: one that plays: such as

a

: a person who plays a game

a baseball player

a chess player

She's one of the team's best players.

b

: a person who plays a musical instrument

a piano player

c

: actor

… what drew these audiences was the emergence of the movie star from the ranks of the wholly anonymous players of a decade earlier.

—David Nasaw

d

: a device that reproduces recorded material (such as video images or music) from a usually specified medium

a CD player

e

: one actively involved especially in a competitive field or process : participant

a key player in politics

f

or less commonly playa US slang : a person and especially a man who has many lovers

Handsome and a well-paid professional, Keith, 35, chose to be a player, juggling a series of relatively brief and sometimes over-lapping intimate relationships with women.

—Michel Marriott

This album has a lot of sexual references. It's almost like Bobby's … a playa.

—Elliott Wilson

Note: The variant playa is more common in transcribed speech.

Synonyms

• instrumentalist
• musician

Examples of player in a Sentence

She's one of the team's best players.

The band's lead guitar player hurt his hand and couldn't play.

Piano players are called pianists.

Recent Examples on the Web

Rice and Southern Methodist University player Theodore Knox are now both facing charges of one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury, according to Dallas police. —Jacob Lev, CNN, 10 June 2024

Grossman was driving behind Scott Erickson, a former Dodgers player, who earlier in the day had been drinking cocktails with her at a nearby restaurant. —Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2024

Former tennis player John McEnroe (R) and his wife US singer Patty Smyth arrive to attend an official state dinner as part of US President's state visit to France, at the Presidential Elysee Palace in Paris on June 8, 2024. —CBS News, 8 June 2024

Image Jayson Werth, a former baseball player, and other owners of Dornoch celebrating the Belmont upset. —Victor J. Blue Melissa Hoppert, New York Times, 8 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing player

• bit player
• most valuable player
• non-player character
• player piano
• record player
• tape player
• team player

Kids Definition

player

noun

play·​er ˈplā-ər 

1

a

: a person who plays a game

b

: musician

c

: actor

2

: a device for playing recorded material (as music)

an MP3 player