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

Each player had 20 swings in the first round and the top four advanced. — CBS News, 14 July 2026

If, by chance, Mbappe and Messi were to end the tournament with an equal number of goals and assists, the award would go to the player who achieved those goals/assists in the fewest number of minutes. — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026

One of the best things about this episode’s edit is the sharp contrast between the players’ breathless race up and down the line of rooms and shots of the more relaxed atmosphere in any room that isn’t actively in use. — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 14 July 2026

Dembele passes into that gap, with Mbappe now faced up against Viktor Gyokeres, a player better known for his work in the other box. — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 14 July 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