play

1 activity engaged in to amuse oneself it's such a delight to watch the children in their play Synonyms dalliance, frolic, frolicking, fun, fun and games, recreation, relaxation, rollicking, sport Related Words gamboling (or gambolling), romping; amusement, diversion, entertainment; hobby, hobbyhorse, pastime; delight, enjoyment, pleasance, pleasure; friskiness, playfulness, sportiveness, wantonness; devilment, devilry (or deviltry), hanky-panky, hob, impishness, jinks, knavery, mischief, mischievousness, rascality, roguishness, waggery; binge, fling, kick, lark, revel, rollick, spree; hilarity, merriment, merrymaking, revelry, whoopee; buffoonery, high jinks (also hijinks), horseplay, tomfoolery Near Antonyms drudgery, labor, work; duty, obligation, responsibility

2 a written work in which the story is told through speech and action that is intended to be acted out on stage we'll be putting on a school play using that stage Synonyms drama, dramatization Related Words interlude, playlet; comedy, comedy drama, docudrama, dramedy, melodrama, monodrama, musical, musical comedy, psychodrama, tragedy, tragicomedy; magnum opus, opus, work; adaptation

3 an attitude or manner not to be taken seriously I didn't mean to insult anyone, for it was all just play Synonyms game, jest, fun, sportRelated Words facetiousness, flightiness, flippancy, frivolity, frivolousness, frothiness, levity, light-mindedness, sillinessNear Antonyms earnestness, gravity, seriousness, soberness, sobriety, solemnityAntonyms earnest

4 the act or practice of employing something for a particular purpose the host's sense of humor was obviously in play during the awards ceremony Synonyms application, employment, exercise, operation, use, usageRelated Words exertion; reuseNear Antonyms disuse, nonuse

5 a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end the guy at the bar made an unusually creative play to get her phone number Synonyms artifice, device, dodge, fetch, flimflam, gambit, gimmick, jig, juggle, knack, trick, ploy, scheme, shenanigan, sleight, stratagem, wileRelated Words bluff, end run, feint; cheating, chicanery, cozenage, craft, crookery, cunning, deception, dupery, duplicity, fakery, jugglery, legerdemain, skulduggery (or skullduggery), subterfuge, swindling, trickery; fraud, gaff, hoax, sham, swindle; blind, front, smoke screen

1 to engage in activity for amusement told her son that he needed some time to run and play in the yard after his hard work Synonyms dally, disport, frolic, recreate, rollick, skylark, sport, toy Related Words cavort, frisk, gambol, romp; dabble, trifle; amuse, divert, entertain; delight, please; dabble, fiddle (around), mess around, putter (around); bum (around), dawdle, goldbrick, hang, hang about [British], idle, loaf, lounge (around or about), relax, rest, screw around, slack (off); jest, joke, tease Near Antonyms drudge, labor, plod, plug (away), slave, strain, strive, struggle, sweat, toil, work

2 to present a portrayal or performance of played Hamlet in the campus production of the classic Synonyms do, impersonate, interpret, perform, act, portrayRelated Words depict, dramatize, render, represent; act out, enact, pantomime, playact, role-play, take on; overact, overplay, underplay; ape, clown, ham, imitate, masquerade, mime, mimic, pose (as); star (in); coact, costar

3 to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior stop playing the innocent, because I know that you were behind that prank Synonyms act, masquerade (as), personate, impersonate, pose (as)Related Words ape, copy, imitate, mime, mimic, mock, monkey, parody, travesty; perform, portray

4 to spend time in aimless activity just played around while we waited for the bus to arrive Synonyms doodle, fool around, fribble, goof (around), hang about [British], kick around, mess around, monkey (around), fiddle, potter (around), putter (around), trifleRelated Words dally, dawdle, dillydally, hang (around or out), idle, loaf, loll, lounge; clown (around), horse around; diddle (with), tinkerNear Antonyms buckle (down), knuckle down, set (to), settle (down)

5 to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently this is how we're going to play the situation Synonyms address, contend (with), cope (with), field, grapple (with), hack, manage, maneuver, manipulate, negotiate, handle, swing, take, treatRelated Words engineer, finesse, jockey; bring off, carry off, carry out, get off, pull; command, direct, guide, steer; control, micromanage, regulate, run; react (to), respond (to)Near Antonyms botch, bungle, foozle, fumble, goof (up), louse up, mess (up), mishandle, muff, scamp

6 to risk (something) on the outcome of an uncertain event figuring that she had little to lose, she played her last few bucks on the state lottery Synonyms gamble, go, lay, bet, put, stake, wagerRelated Words bid, offer; adventure, chance, hazard, speculate, venture; endanger, imperil, jeopardize