LARP

1 of 2

noun

ˈlärp 

variants or less commonly larp

plural LARPs also larps

: a live-action role-playing game in which a group of people enacts a fictional scenario (such as a fantasy adventure) in real time typically under the guidance of a facilitator or organizer

LARPers can dive into Marvel-, Harry Potter-, or pirate-themed events (to name a few), or select LARPs based on their … battle styles.

—Briana Shemroske

I've been to LARPs before where, when you show up, they make you put on garb. That is to say, they make you wear period-appropriate clothes …

—Margaret Killjoy

No matter what the LARP genre—espionage, historical reenactment, science fiction, swords and sorcery—the concept is the same.

—Ethan Gildsorf

also : the activity of participating in such games : larping entry 1

Live action role play, or larp, is a combination of re-enactment, storytelling and gaming—players are given a role and act out their character's actions within an overarching story.

—Tash Reith-Banks

LARP

2 of 2

verb

variants or less commonly larp

LARPed also larped; LARPing also larping; LARPs also larps

intransitive verb

: to engage in a live-action role-playing game : to participate in a LARP

But during the first time she LARPed, she found she could be someone else—or, perhaps, a braver version of herself.

—Court Mann

We wonder if sometimes people take their gaming too seriously when they LARP.

—Annalee Newitz

Examples of LARP in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

While minimizing pressure and interference in day-to-day school life, the project had to represent some of the actual LARP sessions. —Savina Petkova, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024

Following the fire, Kate and Clint lose track of the Ronin suit, which winds up the hands of a firefighter who borrows it for an upcoming LARP. —Chancellor Agard, EW.com, 24 Nov. 2021

Morrison’s attorney, Leonard Ballard, also pointed to his client’s powerlessness, saying Morrison was partaking in LARP — live-action role-playing — a role-playing activity in which participants dress the part of fictional characters complete with costumes and props. —Miriam Marini, Detroit Free Press, 24 Oct. 2022

The sophisticated Nordic style of gaming—which takes cues from psychodrama and BDSM play, among other ideas, and encourages players to build complex societies and explore topics like consent rather than, say, try to win—inspired Wilk to run a LARP simulation of her story with experienced gamers. —Michael Friedrich, The Atlantic, 25 July 2022

Over a week in November, more than 60 volcanologists from universities, research labs and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), among other organizations, got together and ran what might best be described as a big eruption live-action role play (or LARP in gaming parlance). —Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 25 Nov. 2020

Slack thus becomes a way to LARP—Live Action Role Play—your job. —Anne Helen Petersen, Wired, 21 Sep. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Noun

live-action role-playing

Verb

derivative of larp entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1990, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1990, in the meaning defined above