as in highlighted
to indicate the importance of by centering attention on
that TV news program plays up sensational stories just to get higher ratings
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Recent Examples of played up
Del Rio played up-and-coming lawyer Billy Martinez on the first season of Matlock.
—
Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Mar. 2026
Natasha Zinko played up the fades of men’s blue jeans.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 3 Mar. 2026
Roy Nwaisser, who chairs the Encino Neighborhood Council’s public safety committee, said that Flock often played up the shortage of police officers during its presentations to residents in his neighborhood.
—Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2026
The film’s press campaign has, quite reasonably, played up the magnificence of Skarsgård’s body in leather and winked at the transgressiveness on display.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2026
This film adaptation cut out the second half of the book, downplayed the violence committed by Olivier’s character, Heathcliff, and played up the romance between Heathcliff and Oberon’s character, Cathy.
—Becky Little, Time, 13 Feb. 2026
Other commercials played up the surreal.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 9 Feb. 2026
The governor’s campaign played up her Patriots fandom this week in an email that featured a photo of the governor wearing a Drake Maye jersey.
—State House News Service, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
In between explaining the Capex increase, executives on Wednesday's call played up AI wins from the quarter.
—Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2026
Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 4 Mar. 2026
Natasha Zinko played up the fades of men’s blue jeans.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 3 Mar. 2026
Roy Nwaisser, who chairs the Encino Neighborhood Council’s public safety committee, said that Flock often played up the shortage of police officers during its presentations to residents in his neighborhood.
—Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2026
The film’s press campaign has, quite reasonably, played up the magnificence of Skarsgård’s body in leather and winked at the transgressiveness on display.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 20 Feb. 2026
This film adaptation cut out the second half of the book, downplayed the violence committed by Olivier’s character, Heathcliff, and played up the romance between Heathcliff and Oberon’s character, Cathy.
—Becky Little, Time, 13 Feb. 2026
Other commercials played up the surreal.
—Brian Steinberg, Variety, 9 Feb. 2026
The governor’s campaign played up her Patriots fandom this week in an email that featured a photo of the governor wearing a Drake Maye jersey.
—State House News Service, Boston Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
In between explaining the Capex increase, executives on Wednesday's call played up AI wins from the quarter.
—Jennifer Elias, CNBC, 5 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for played up
Verb
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Earlier in the school year, BPS officials highlighted gains in chronic absenteeism — defined as students missing 10% or more of school days a year — across nearly all grade levels and student groups in the 2024-25 year from the previous year.—
Grace Zokovitch,
Boston Herald,
10 Mar. 2026
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When Biden dropped out and Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee, pundits highlighted that influencers were now molding the cultural conversation across the country.—
Jay Stahl,
USA Today,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Wasserman Schultz emphasized that her biggest concern is the dark web, where networks of predators buy and sell child pornography while evading detection.—
Shira Moolten,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
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Lilienthal emphasized that robots require physical, real-world data to understand movement and interaction with objects.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, stressed the importance of the strait for trade and urged an immediate ceasefire.—
John Liu,
CNN Money,
4 Mar. 2026
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The report then stressed the need for the diocese to abandon the practice of requiring victims to take polygraph tests and to stop refusing to investigate third-party complaints about priests.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The 2020 Democratic presidential primary, the party's last open nominating contest, featured a rush to the left as candidates raced to embrace far-reaching ideas including Medicare-for-all, the Green New Deal and aggressive taxes on billionaires.—
JEFF STEIN THE WASHINGTON POST,
Arkansas Online,
6 Mar. 2026
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All products featured on Vogue are independently selected by our editors.—
Conçetta Ciarlo,
Vogue,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Played up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/played%20up. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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