playact

Definition of playactnext

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
  • The contemporary artist Lauren Halsey, right, and her longterm partner Monique McWilliams pose together on the red carpet.
    — Laura Zornosa, Los Angeles Times, 8 Nov. 2026
  • The question, posed during an on-court postgame interview, was when a young player stops measuring his performance by his point total and starts measuring it by the result.
    — Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 Nov. 2026
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
Verb
  • One member of a relationship accidentally spills secrets because they get seduced by someone pretending to be the other member of their relationship.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 12 Nov. 2026
  • His shoulders slumped and his gait turned flat-footed, failing even to pretend to contest a Julian Champagnie shot.
    — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 12 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • That movie, to this day, still has Gen Z social media content creators like Juicy Jacob still impersonating the character and delighting fans in public.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 8 Nov. 2026
  • The defendants would then tell them to contact an attorney at a major law firm, who the group was also ready to impersonate, according to court documents.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 6 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • As of Sunday afternoon, 45 people were listed as missing, according to the acting head of the regional military administration, Mykhailo Semikin.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 9 Nov. 2026
  • Khalil openly acted as a spokesman for Columbia University Apartheid Divest to give the school its political demands during the unrest.
    — Hudson Crozier, The Washington Examiner, 9 Nov. 2026
Verb
  • The 6-foot-9, 240-pound Purdue transfer, cleared by the courts to play courtesy of a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit against the NCAA, came off the bench to score nine points on 4-of-5 shooting.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026
  • That forced Edmonds and former Horned Frog David Punch (now at Texas) to play lengthy minutes and have to worry about foul trouble.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Nov. 2026
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
Verb
  • Mendes is returning to the franchise as Ana Santos, an intern at a New York City auction house who feigns a higher job status after she is upgraded to first class on her flight to London.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Rifkin also pointed out how Sierra feigned concern over Machado’s disappearance to family members and friends.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 19 Oct. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Playact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playact. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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