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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Players have to create teams that exploit a boss’ weakness in order to defeat them, and that means building up characters that have the right elemental affinities.—
Gieson Cacho,
Mercury News,
16 Mar. 2026 -
This is certain to be an area TCU will try to exploit.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But there was also outside criticism that the Heat manipulated the game to get Adebayo to 83 points on Tuesday, with the Heat intentionally missing a free throw and committing at least one intentional foul in the final minutes to get Adebayo extra possessions down the stretch of the game.—
Anthony Chiang,
Miami Herald,
14 Mar. 2026
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Today, however, too many publications seek to manipulate or outright cover up stories that shed a negative light on their preferred party.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
14 Mar. 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 21 Mar. 2026.
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