playact

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of playact Today, Margaret would be playacting her own massacre in active shooter drills at school. Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 1 May 2023 Trump’s modus, as ever, was to playact; his game has always been improv. Joe Klein, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2023 Trixie advises Alma to playact highness to flummox E.B. Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2021 Today, this dynamic lives on in the form of Roblox strip clubs, where young people — mostly, minors — playact at adult sexuality. Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2021 The world had first required her to playact as a man. Will Stephenson, Harper's Magazine, 15 Sep. 2020 Yona has it better than the locals who have agreed to playact, and likely die, in Mui’s fake new disaster. Madeline Leung Coleman, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2020 In a twist, The Sims is now a way to playact not just an alternate life, but any life at all. Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2020 Cloud is almost childlike, a boy playacting at being a warrior and not always nailing the part. Julie Muncy, Wired, 10 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for playact
Verb
  • Even 6 inches of moving water can pose a serious risk of knocking you off your feet.
    STAR-TELEGRAM WEATHER BOT, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2025
  • Data privacy standards, upfront integration costs and the extensive staff training required to operationalize new tools can pose challenges that slow deployment.
    Dr. Taha Kass-Hout, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • In his view, all 11 million undocumented immigrants are criminals masquerading as human beings.
    Sergio Munoz Bata, Oc Register, 17 June 2025
  • Donald Trump’s vainglorious birthday parade masquerading as a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army may get drenched in a rainy DC this Flag Day, but the financial sun is shining a bit brighter for some suffering Hollywood vendors.
    Dominic Patten, Deadline, 14 June 2025
Verb
  • Have you ever been contacted by someone pretending to be Elon Musk?
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 26 June 2025
  • The show then cut over to a Good Morning America clip that sees Haines pretend to faint when the superhero swings into frame.
    Emlyn Travis Published, EW.com, 26 June 2025
Verb
  • Why the latest PayPal phishing scam is so convincing Most phishing scams try (and fail) to impersonate big companies.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 28 June 2025
  • That’s because Scattered Spider has also been known to send fake SMS text messages impersonating login systems to phish employees.
    Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 27 June 2025
Verb
  • The White House appointed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who had previously served as President Trump’s defense attorney, as the new acting Librarian of Congress.
    Kate Knibbs, ArsTechnica, 28 June 2025
  • Even if borrowers act immediately, there simply may not be enough time to enroll in ICR.
    Adam S. Minsky, Forbes.com, 28 June 2025
Verb
  • Students were required to undertake certain extracurricular activities (Prevost was in the choir with Franks—both sing tenor—and played tennis) and to keep up their academic performance, but mostly the school’s focus was how to live in community.
    Belinda Luscombe, Time, 1 July 2025
  • Pitcher of the Year: Taylor McKean, Aledo Aledo senior Taylor McKean, a Tarleton Softball pledge, was one of the best pitchers in Dallas-Fort Worth and played a pivotal role in another strong season for the Bearcats.
    Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 1 July 2025
Verb
  • You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.
    Aryeh Neier, The New York Review of Books, 3 Mar. 2025
  • Pushing back on reporters, at the time Scher often dissembled and appeared to brush aside concerns about what was clearly an increasingly out-of-control situation.
    Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 19 July 2024
Verb
  • The advisee who feigns receptivity lays a terrible trap; woe to the adviser who does not think to step around it.
    Merve Emre, New Yorker, 16 June 2025
  • The actress first feigned collapsing after Joy Behar made a joke about Sean Combs.
    Joey Nolfi Published, EW.com, 3 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Playact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playact. Accessed 7 Jul. 2025.

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