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
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for play (upon)
Verb
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Ramaphosa accused these groups of exploiting migration anxieties to sow division through lawlessness and violence.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
8 June 2026 -
This feels less like a billing problem and more like a system failure that the company is exploiting.—
Christopher Elliott,
Mercury News,
8 June 2026
Verb
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What online scammers are looking to steal The FBI issued a warning last month that cybercriminals are manipulating or reproducing the official FIFA World Cup website to scam fans who are looking for tickets, hospitality packages, merchandise, streaming access and betting opportunities.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 2026
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Ironically then, the state’s efforts to verify the legitimacy of ballots lengthen the count, which then leads to allegations that the count is being manipulated.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
11 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Play (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/play%20%28upon%29. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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