play

play

noun

Definition of PLAY

1

activity engaged in to amuse oneself <it's such a delight to watch the children in their play>

Synonyms dalliance, frolic, frolicking, fun, fun and games, recreation, relaxation, rollicking, sport

Related Words gamboling (or gambolling), romping; amusement, diversion, entertainment; hobby, hobbyhorse, pastime; delight, enjoyment, pleasance, pleasure; friskiness, playfulness, sportiveness, wantonness; devilment, devilry (or deviltry), hanky-panky, hob, impishness, jinks, knavery, mischief, mischievousness, rascality, roguishness, waggery; binge, fling, kick, lark, revel, rollick, spree; hilarity, merriment, merrymaking, revelry, whoopee; buffoonery, high jinks (also hijinks), horseplay, tomfoolery

Near Antonyms drudgery, labor, work; duty, obligation, responsibility

2

a written work in which the story is told through speech and action that is intended to be acted out on stage <we'll be putting on a school play using that stage>

Synonyms drama, dramatization

Related Words interlude, playlet; comedy, comedy drama, docudrama, dramedy, melodrama, monodrama, musical, musical comedy, psychodrama, tragedy, tragicomedy; magnum opus, opus, work; adaptation

3

an attitude or manner not to be taken seriously <I didn't mean to insult anyone, for it was all just play>

Synonyms game, jest, play, sport

Related Words facetiousness, flightiness, flippancy, frivolity, frivolousness, frothiness, levity, light-mindedness, silliness

Near Antonyms earnestness, gravity, seriousness, soberness, sobriety, solemnity

Antonyms earnest

4

the act or practice of employing something for a particular purpose <the host's sense of humor was obviously in play during the awards ceremony>

Synonyms application, employment, exercise, operation, play, usage

Related Words exertion; reuse

Near Antonyms disuse, nonuse

5

a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end <the guy at the bar made an unusually creative play to get her phone number>

Synonyms artifice, device, dodge, fetch, flimflam, gambit, gimmick, jig, juggle, knack, play, ploy, scheme, shenanigan, sleight, stratagem, wile

Related Words bluff, end run, feint; cheating, chicanery, cozenage, craft, crookery, cunning, deception, dupery, duplicity, fakery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery; fraud, gaff, hoax, sham, swindle; blind, front, smoke screen