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 or service that reproduces recorded material (such as video images or music)

You can listen to the full episode using the media player above (or wherever you listen to podcasts).

—Tan Vinh

—often used with a specified medium

a digital media player

e

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

a key player in politics

f

or less commonly playa

ˈplā-ə 

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 of player

• instrumentalist
• musician
• artist

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

The Blue Devils also received key shots from their role players as Sarr and freshman Nikolas Khamenia hit 3s during the run. —Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Mar. 2026

The Heat had 11 available Saturday, factoring in the season-long absence of Terry Rozier (who’s facing federal charges) and the absence of the team’s three two-way contract players, who are on G-League assignment. —Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 22 Mar. 2026

Ian James, Jayden Reid and Zorhan Bassong are players Wicky hopes to have back by the time Sporting next plays. —Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2026

When a coalition of figures assembled at a Georgetown University forum, in February, 2023, the former Crown Prince sat humbly in a row of eight, alongside two actresses, a soccer player, and an Iranian Kurdish separatist. —Azadeh Moaveni, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026

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

Rhymes for player

• gayer
• grayer
• greyer
• layer
• mayor
• nayar
• payer
• payor
• peyer
• preyer
• sayer
• slayer

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