play up

verb

played up; playing up; plays up

transitive verb

: emphasize

In the interview, try to play up your strengths.

also : exaggerate, overemphasize

It was only a small achievement but the CEO really played it up.

Synonyms of play up

• highlight
• emphasize
• stress
• feature
• point (up)

Examples of play up in a Sentence

that TV news program plays up sensational stories just to get higher ratings

Recent Examples on the Web

Under the old system, football players could play up to four regular seasons plus postseason games in a redshirt year without the season counting against the four-season cap. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 9 July 2026

Every team wants position players who are athletic, project to play up the middle, excel on defense and more. — Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 9 July 2026

And we’re all being manipulated, which social media plays up. — Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026

Dolan in her own statement played up the virtues of a home entertainment release. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 8 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1814, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for play up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

play up

verb

: emphasize