as in used
to take unfair advantage of
the candidate played on the voters' prejudices
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for played (on or upon)
Verb
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Reeve’s first technical was being upset with the officials for the physicality being used on Collier in the second quarter.—
Mike Cook,
Twin Cities,
27 Sep. 2025 -
Slaten was the first of six Red Sox relievers Cora used in a game managed with aggressive perfection.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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For example, Makris is concerned that the Nottinghamshire Police in the UK have begun testing a Unitree Go2, which can be exploited by UniPwn.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
25 Sep. 2025
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The vulnerability can be exploited by low-privileged users to create a denial-of-service attack or by higher-privileged users to execute code that runs with unfettered root privileges.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The individuals Trump is calling out, the White House and its MAGA allies say, abused their power to keep him from returning to the presidency.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
23 Sep. 2025
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The complaints are wrenching by any measure – boys and girls as young as 8 who claim they were targeted, molested and otherwise abused by county Health and Human Services Agency workers.—
Jeff McDonald,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Gamow leveraged this fact to make three great, generic predictions about the young Universe.—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
23 Sep. 2025
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While some players like CoreWeave appear precariously leveraged, the big money in AI is coming from profits.—
Liz Hoffman,
semafor.com,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Silvia faces the trauma of having been poisoned and closely manipulated, while Isabela deals with the aftermath of the accident and the blackmail, struggling with her guilt and the ongoing challenges of her addiction, though she is never taken into custody.—
Isabella Wandermurem,
Time,
24 Sep. 2025
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Critics say the rankings, which began in 1983 and have long been considered the gold standard, are biased toward selective private universities, are too easily manipulated by the schools themselves and fail to capture the breadth of a school's offerings.—
Grace Tucker,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
23 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Played (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/played%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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