play at

phrasal verb

played at; playing at; plays at

1

: to do (something) in a way that is not serious

They were only playing at trying to fix the problem.

2

chiefly British : to play by pretending to be (someone or something)

She liked to play at doctors and nurses as a child.

—often used in the phrase play at being (something)

boys playing at being soldiers

3

British

—used to say in an annoyed way that one does not know the reason for someone's behavior

What is he playing at?

Examples of play at in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

And the Cyclones have trailed for just 28 seconds this season, the fewest among teams that have played at least five games. —Manny Navarro, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025

The documentary, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and then played at Jerusalem and San Sebastian, goes on national release on October 10, care of Neon. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2025

Who would play at second base and who would be the third outfielder were far from set in stone as of Tuesday afternoon. —Aaliyan Mohammed, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Sep. 2025

The Oscar-buzz-y film, which will play at the New York Film Festival and open in theaters November 26, moves slower than Bacurau. —Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for play at

• begat
• bobcat
• chitchat
• doormat
• ducat
• eclat
• format
• hazmat
• muskrat
• nonfat
• polecat
• thereat