play (upon)

verb

Definition of play (upon)next
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)
  1. exploit
  2. manipulate
Verb
  • That signal can be aggregated, correlated, and exploited by hostile foreign intelligence services to anticipate our movements, targets, and timing.
    — Jon Brodkin, ArsTechnica, 23 Oct. 2026
  • The researchers did not observe every capability being actively exploited, so account compromise should not be assumed without evidence.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of exploit
Verb
  • Chen has become even more adept at manipulating her voice, both in delivery and in the mix.
    — James Gui, Pitchfork, 4 Nov. 2026
  • These components guide and manipulate light on a chip, much like electronic circuits process electrical signals.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of manipulate
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.

Browse Nearby Words

play up
play (upon)
playwear
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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 7 Nov. 2026.

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