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

After a lengthy tutorial, players are thrust into the unforgiving open world of the Wasteland, which boasts an impressive variety of enemies and a slew of compelling side quests to complete. —Katcy Stephan, Variety, 24 Apr. 2024

Santos even claimed falsely to have been a competitive college volleyball player. —Brian Mann, NPR, 24 Apr. 2024

Cooks was a key player for a team that advanced to Super Bowl LIII. —Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times, 24 Apr. 2024

His father, Stephane, is a former EuroLeague player and also a former Olympian. —Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 24 Apr. 2024

Murphy is a versatile three-down player who can line up across the D-front and had five sacks and 8 1/2 tackles for loss last season. —Greg Cote, Miami Herald, 24 Apr. 2024

Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. —Taylor Wilson, USA TODAY, 24 Apr. 2024

The music thumped and the arena darkened as the players emerged with spotlights shining on them. —Adam Elder, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2024

The Serbian tennis player, who is currently first in the ATP rankings, became an Audemars Piguet brand ambassador in 2011, signed with Seiko three years later, and then joined the Hublot roster in 2021. —Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 23 Apr. 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