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

Six Chicago players reached double figures as the Bulls played a second game without its top two scorers in Josh Giddey and Coby White, who were injured in a loss to Minnesota on Monday night. —CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026

For hockey players, long games can also lead to experimenting with unusual drinks. —Sam Jane, New York Times, 3 Jan. 2026

Tailback Rodney Hill, defensive linemen Danny Saili and Ken Talley, and cornerback Jaden Allen all reportedly entered the portal Friday along with Harris, giving the Razorbacks up to 24 scholarship players ready to change teams. —Tom Murphy, Arkansas Online, 3 Jan. 2026

Some players had fake brick phones — purchased on Amazon, according to defenseman Seth Jones. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 3 Jan. 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