as in to exploit
to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means
played upon the customer's vanity to convince her to buy the expensive makeup kit
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for play (upon)
Verb
-
Russian hackers have previously been accused of exploiting the feature through phishing messages as well.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
9 Mar. 2026 -
Moore’s film shows someone who thrives with on-time throws and running his routes to get where he’s supposed to be to exploit the defense.—
Joe Buscaglia,
New York Times,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Easter changes date every year, and the blooms on sale are carefully manipulated to bloom on time.—
Becky Wern,
Florida Times-Union,
7 Mar. 2026
-
The most fantastical parts of the movie retain some of their power because Sher and Gyllenhaal subtly manipulate aspect ratio changes and a vertical growth across the film.—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
7 Mar. 2026
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Play (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/play%20%28upon%29. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
