play upon

verb

played upon; playing upon; plays upon

: to make people do what one wants by using (their emotions, fears, concerns, etc.) in an unfair way

Politicians often win votes by playing upon people's emotions.

Examples of play upon in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Such stories play upon our own imaginings; anyone who’s run a toy car across the landscape of a floor, or pretended a planter was a jungle, or made a mountain out of a mound, or projected themselves into a model train layout — indeed, a scene here — will relate. —Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2026

Michael Owens / Getty Images Nacua issued an apology last December after performing a gesture that plays upon antisemitic tropes while appearing on an internet livestream. —CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026

From allowing players to immediately play upon transferring to the introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness money — which has enabled players to become free agents earning tens of thousands or even millions of dollars — the landscape around the portal has drastically changed in recent years. —Shaun Goodwin, Idaho Statesman, 1 Jan. 2026

There were questions about where Bichette would play upon his return from his knee injury, and the questions were valid. —Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for play upon

• aileron
• antiphon
• autobahn
• carillon
• castellan
• celadon
• cephalon
• chitosan
• cynodon
• denouement
• deuteron
• echelon