variants
or less commonly roleplay
role-played also roleplayed; role-playing also roleplaying; role-plays also roleplays
1
: to act out the role of
2
: to represent in action
students were asked to role-play the thoughts and feelings of each character—
R. G. Lambert
R. G. Lambert
: to play a role
role-play
noun
or less commonly roleplay
plural role-plays also roleplays
I practice this with student social workers through case studies and role-play.
—Kevin Brazant, quoted in psychologytoday.com
Kevin Brazant, quoted in psychologytoday.com
Examples of role-play in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
People walk past the image of the ‘Monkey King’ character, or ‘Sun Wukong’ of Chinese action role-playing game ‘Black Myth: Wukong’, developed by Chinese video game company Game Science, during its launch day in Hangzhou, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province on August 20, 2024.
—Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2024
Part live action role-playing game and part work of improvisational theater, Ghost Town Alive! brings with it daily storylines, including multiple editions of a newspaper, and a cadre of wacky characters.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2024
Fallout Based on the popular Bethesda action role-playing game, Amazon’s Fallout picks up 200 after a series of nuclear bombs rendered the world’s surface virtually uninhabitable.
—Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 10 Aug. 2024
But there are just as many that probably should have been left on the console, like the role-playing first-person shooter game, Borderlands.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for role-play 
Evelyn Cheng, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2024
Part live action role-playing game and part work of improvisational theater, Ghost Town Alive! brings with it daily storylines, including multiple editions of a newspaper, and a cadre of wacky characters.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2024
Fallout Based on the popular Bethesda action role-playing game, Amazon’s Fallout picks up 200 after a series of nuclear bombs rendered the world’s surface virtually uninhabitable.
—Keith Langston, Peoplemag, 10 Aug. 2024
But there are just as many that probably should have been left on the console, like the role-playing first-person shooter game, Borderlands.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for role-play
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'role-play.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near role-play
Cite this Entry
“Role-play.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/role-play. Accessed 10 Sep. 2024.
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