as in exploited
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 played (upon)
Verb
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According to the complaint, authorities believe the same individual similarly exploited at least 26 other children using online platforms.—
Laura Romero,
ABC News,
6 Nov. 2025 -
Often the updates help keep you safe by patching loopholes in previous versions of software that scammers exploited.—
Shelby Slade,
AZCentral.com,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Freedom from fear mattered because frightened societies are easily manipulated.—
Philip Martin,
Washington Post,
7 Jan. 2026
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In some cases, CBS News ran images through AI detection tools, which can be inconsistent or inaccurate but can still help flag possibly manipulated content.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
6 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Played (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/played%20%28upon%29. Accessed 10 Jan. 2026.
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