Thesaurus results for PLAYED (UPON)

played (upon)

verb

past tense of play (upon)

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

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for played (upon)

Verb

But the Kazmis exploited a security lapse and gained access to the supplier’s fuel depot.

— Brian Slodysko, Fortune, 20 July 2026
However, these technological advances are not widely deployed due in part to concerns from privacy activists, who maintain they necessitate backdoors that could be exploited by governments and nefarious actors to enable wholesale spying.

— Charlie Campbell, Time, 20 July 2026

Definition of exploited

Verb

Investigators say the images were altered versions of real photographs of girls who appeared to be between the ages of 5 and 10 that were manipulated using Grok.

— Laurie Mermet, Sun Sentinel, 17 July 2026
That’s hardly an accident, as lawmakers have increasingly manipulated the election process to suit themselves, rejiggering congressional districts to sideline voters and boost their political parties.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026

Definition of manipulated

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.

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played up

played (upon)

played (with)

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“Played (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/played%20%28upon%29. Accessed 23 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of played (upon)

verb

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