Synonyms of play

play 1 of 5

verb (1)

1

as in to recreate

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 & Similar Words

• recreate
• entertain
• toy
• sport
• frolic
• relax
• amuse
• joke
• please
• rest
• romp
• rollick
• cavort
• disport
• hang
• dabble
• tease
• delight
• gambol
• skylark
• trifle
• frisk
• dally
• divert
• idle
• fiddle (around)
• hang about
• dawdle
• lounge (around or about)
• bum (around)
• screw around
• loaf
• putter (around)
• slack (off)
• jest
• mess around
• goldbrick

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• work
• slave
• struggle
• strive
• labor
• plug (away)
• toil
• sweat
• strain
• plod
• drudge

2

as in to perform

to present a portrayal or performance of

played Hamlet in the campus production of the classic

Synonyms & Similar Words

• perform
• portray
• do
• interpret
• represent
• depict
• act
• impersonate
• enact
• render
• dramatize
• act out
• imitate
• mimic
• pose (as)
• role-play
• take on
• masquerade
• playact
• pantomime
• overplay
• ham
• underplay
• ape
• star (in)
• mime
• coact
• overact
• clown
• costar

3

as in to pose (as)

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 & Similar Words

• pose (as)
• mock
• imitate
• masquerade (as)
• act
• portray
• impersonate
• personate
• mimic
• parody
• copy
• perform
• ape
• mime
• monkey
• travesty

4

as in to lounge

to spend time in aimless activity

just played around while we waited for the bus to arrive

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lounge
• idle
• doodle
• tinker
• hang about
• loaf
• fiddle (around)
• fool around
• goof (around)
• trifle
• fribble
• putter (around)
• potter (around)
• kick around
• mess around
• monkey (around)
• hang (around or out)
• dawdle
• horse around
• loll
• clown (around)
• diddle (with)
• dillydally
• dally

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• set (to)
• settle (down)
• buckle (down)
• knuckle down

5

as in to manipulate

to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently

this is how we're going to play the situation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• manipulate
• manage
• handle
• address
• take
• treat
• negotiate
• swing
• maneuver
• field
• cope (with)
• contend (with)
• hack
• grapple (with)
• come to grips with
• pull
• carry out
• have a grip on
• control
• engineer
• get off
• carry off
• regulate
• steer
• guide
• respond (to)
• direct
• react (to)
• run
• jockey
• finesse
• bring off
• command
• micromanage

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fumble
• botch
• muff
• goof (up)
• bungle
• scamp
• mess (up)
• mishandle
• louse up
• foozle

6

as in to put

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 & Similar Words

• put
• bet
• wager
• lay
• go
• offer
• gamble
• stake
• bid
• adventure
• speculate
• venture
• chance
• jeopardize
• endanger
• hazard
• imperil

play

2 of 5

noun

ˈplā 

1

as in relaxation

activity engaged in to amuse oneself

it's such a delight to watch the children in their play

Synonyms & Similar Words

• relaxation
• fun
• recreation
• entertainment
• amusement
• enjoyment
• sport
• rollicking
• frolic
• pleasure
• frolicking
• dalliance
• fun and games
• playfulness
• romping
• hobby
• diversion
• pastime
• delight
• kick
• gamboling
• revel
• mischief
• hobbyhorse
• lark
• devilment
• hob
• merrymaking
• jinks
• fling
• hilarity
• horseplay
• rascality
• revelry
• spree
• pleasance
• buffoonery
• rollick
• binge
• tomfoolery
• merriment
• devilry
• sportiveness
• high jinks
• wantonness
• mischievousness
• friskiness
• roguishness
• hanky-panky
• knavery
• whoopee
• impishness
• waggery

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• work
• labor
• duty
• responsibility
• drudgery
• obligation

2

as in drama

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 & Similar Words

• drama
• musical
• dramatization
• comedy
• work
• tragedy
• playlet
• interlude
• adaptation
• musical comedy
• tragicomedy
• psychodrama
• melodrama
• magnum opus
• opus
• comedy drama
• docudrama
• monodrama
• dramedy

3

as in game

an attitude or manner not to be taken seriously

I didn't mean to insult anyone, for it was all just play

Synonyms & Similar Words

• game
• fun
• sport
• silliness
• jest
• frivolity
• levity
• flippancy
• frivolousness
• facetiousness
• flightiness
• light-mindedness
• frothiness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• earnest
• gravity
• seriousness
• earnestness
• sobriety
• solemnity
• soberness

4

as in use

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 & Similar Words

• use
• application
• exercise
• usage
• operation
• employment
• exertion
• reuse

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• disuse
• nonuse

5

as in ruse

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 & Similar Words

• ruse
• scheme
• trick
• device
• fetch
• dodge
• gambit
• jig
• sleight of hand
• knack
• juggle
• ploy
• wile
• stratagem
• bluff
• gimmick
• end run
• deception
• sleight
• flimflam
• artifice
• cunning
• shenanigan
• cheating
• feint
• swindle
• trickery
• duplicity
• hoax
• swindling
• subterfuge
• jugglery
• smoke screen
• craft
• front
• chicanery
• blind
• skulduggery
• dupery
• fraud
• fakery
• gaff
• sham
• cozenage
• legerdemain
• crookery

play (on or upon)

3 of 5

verb (2)

as in to use

to take unfair advantage of

the candidate played on the voters' prejudices

Synonyms & Similar Words

• use
• impose (on or upon)
• exploit
• abuse
• walk on
• leverage
• capitalize (on)
• manipulate
• cash in (on)
• trade on
• pimp
• milk
• work
• cheat
• mistreat
• jerk around
• stick
• skin
• soak
• fleece
• bleed
• overcharge
• commercialize
• commodify

play (upon)

4 of 5

verb (3)

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

• exploit
• manipulate
• deceive
• maneuver
• engineer
• take in
• trick
• snow
• scheme
• bluff
• devise
• kid
• plot
• delude
• dupe
• fool
• gull
• jockey
• defraud
• swindle
• intrigue
• cozen
• mastermind
• hoodwink
• arrange
• chisel
• shanghai
• fleece
• finagle
• hoax
• con
• beguile
• finesse
• contrive
• cheat
• hustle
• machinate

play (with)

5 of 5

verb (4)

as in to toy (with)

to handle thoughtlessly, ignorantly, or mischievously

please don't play with the telephone

Synonyms & Similar Words

• toy (with)
• fool (with)
• tamper (with)
• fiddle (with)
• tinker (with)
• mess (with)
• monkey (with)
• twiddle (with)
• manipulate
• diddle (with)
• alter
• abuse
• misuse
• interfere
• mistreat
• butt in
• doctor
• meddle
• intrude
• muck (about or around)
• manhandle

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun play differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of play are fun, game, jest, and sport. While all these words mean "action or speech that provides amusement or arouses laughter," play stresses the opposition to earnest without implying any malice or mischief.

pretended to strangle his brother in play

In what contexts can fun take the place of play?

While the synonyms fun and play are close in meaning, fun usually implies laughter or gaiety but may imply merely a lack of serious or ulterior purpose.

played cards just for fun

How do game and sport relate to one another, in the sense of play?

Game is close to sport, and often stresses mischievous or malicious fun.

made game of their poor relations

When can jest be used instead of play?

While in some cases nearly identical to play, jest implies lack of earnestness and may suggest a hoaxing or teasing.

hurt by remarks said only in jest

When would sport be a good substitute for play?

Although the words sport and play have much in common, sport applies especially to the arousing of laughter against someone.

teasing begun in sport led to anger

How does the noun play differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of play are fun, game, jest, and sport. While all these words mean "action or speech that provides amusement or arouses laughter," play stresses the opposition to earnest without implying any malice or mischief.

pretended to strangle his brother in play

In what contexts can fun take the place of play?

While the synonyms fun and play are close in meaning, fun usually implies laughter or gaiety but may imply merely a lack of serious or ulterior purpose.

played cards just for fun

How do game and sport relate to one another, in the sense of play?

Game is close to sport, and often stresses mischievous or malicious fun.

made game of their poor relations

When can jest be used instead of play?

While in some cases nearly identical to play, jest implies lack of earnestness and may suggest a hoaxing or teasing.

hurt by remarks said only in jest

When would sport be a good substitute for play?

Although the words sport and play have much in common, sport applies especially to the arousing of laughter against someone.

teasing begun in sport led to anger

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of play

Verb

Now, Johnson is set to play behind Clark in the rotation, coming off the bench to earn her minutes as a rookie. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, PEOPLE, 14 Apr. 2026

The Mets failed to play in any sort of way that would prove that notion wrong in a 4-0 loss. —Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 14 Apr. 2026

Noun

Zarba admitted it was reviewed in the locker room at halftime by his crew, as many plays were. —Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 15 Apr. 2026

Sadly for the Heat, the play by Ball and subsequent lower-back injury kept Adebayo from being on the floor until the end to try to earn his team another game and one last chance to make the playoffs. —Doug Haller, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2026

Phrases Containing play

• child's play
• foul play
• play (on or upon)
• play (upon)
• play (with)
• play ball
• play down
• play ducks and drakes with
• play hooky
• play out
• play up