Thesaurus results for PLAYACT

playact

verb

Definition of playact

as in to pose

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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 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 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

Making peace between the GOP’s pro-Israel establishment and its restive right wing will pose an early challenge for Vice President JD Vance, who’s positioning himself for a posible 2028 run.

— Shelby Talcott, semafor.com, 26 Oct. 2026
Beyond the immediate threat to crude supplies, damage to refining infrastructure could pose a more persistent challenge to global energy markets.

— Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of pose

Verb

Official outlets can quote from posts on fake accounts whose creators masquerade as ordinary members of the public, making a fringe claim seem normal.

— RENÉE DIRESTA, Foreign Affairs, 5 Oct. 2026
The action-drama is a road show that primarily films on location and often features rural settings, so the move to California provides new landscapes to masquerade as other locales.

— Yvonne Villarreal, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of masquerade

Verb

The New York governor signed two bills this morning barring companies from offering some AI chatbot features to users under 18—like pretending to be a real person or to have human emotions, or people-pleasing as a way to keep users engaged.

— Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 28 Oct. 2026
Everyone is pretending all the time, no one can ever be themselves, and so each of us, in our own way, is sealed inside something that doesn’t exist and that, deep down, makes no apparent sense whatsoever.

— J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of pretend

Verb

Fielder has made a career out of constructing elaborate social experiments, like building exact replicas of people’s homes and hiring actors to impersonate their loved ones on The Rehearsal.

— Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 27 Oct. 2026
Some scammers impersonate candidates to solicit fraudulent contributions.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of impersonate

Verb

After Maduro was deposed, Venezuela's highest court said Rodríguez could serve as acting president for up to 90 days -- an interim appointment that could be extended by the National Assembly for an additional 90 days.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 26 Oct. 2026
And yesterday is one of those days when your family ain’t acting right.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2026

Definition of act

Verb

Reimer played just one previous game this fall, a 35-save shutout in the American Hockey League on Saturday night, before signing an NHL contract for the rest of the season.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
The 2025 expansion team will have an opportunity to secure its first championship banner when Game 6 is played Thursday afternoon in Atlanta.

— Reuters, NBC news, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of play

Verb

Instead, whole grains and foods are dissembled into molecules which, with the help of artificial colorings, flavorings and gluelike emulsifiers, are heated, pounded, shaped or extruded into any food a manufacturer can dream up.

— Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026
When McKenzie asks him how much he’s contributed to the coffers of politicians, his dodging of the question is pure dissembling theater.

— Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026

Definition of dissemble

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“Playact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playact. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of playact

verb

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