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

Fielder played up a version of himself on the show, acting as a dumbly ambitious business school graduate, socially inept and desperately seeking connection. — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026

Usually, such events are treated as add-ons, with VIPs often paying a premium to see artists play up close after sound check. — Josh Crutchmer, Rolling Stone, 24 Oct. 2026

But the focus this week has been less about what the Mountaineers can do and more about how the defense can continue to play up to its standard. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 Oct. 2026

Russia has also publicly acknowledged the drone attack on a refinery and broadcast images on state media, breaking with its usual practice in order to play up the incident. — Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 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