PLAYERS Synonyms: 112 Similar and Opposite Words

players

noun

plural of player

as in instrumentalists

a person who plays a musical instrument a horn player

Synonyms & Similar Words

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as in actors

one who acts professionally (as in a play, movie, or television show) a troupe of players used to give performances on the town green

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

nonactors

as in participants

one who takes part in something a significant player in the negotiations

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 players The Board of Control for Cricket in India issued show-cause notices to both players and briefly suspended them from the national team. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026 And while the anthem played , the two teams' players, coaches and others stood along the sidelines. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 29 Sep. 2026 Among the biggest players in the data center land rush is, of course, Oracle CEO and Paramount-WBD deal financier Larry Ellison. — Tom Tapp, Deadline, 29 Sep. 2026 Right-hander Jonathan Bowlan and infielder Otto Kemp were included as the Phillies went with 14 position players. — ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026 Plenty of young players in the Dodgers’ system have been blocked by older stars over the years. — Maddie Lee, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026 Mattingly and his players were still reflecting on the stressful final week of the regular season that included four straight losses before the clinching win. — CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026 Data he and his colleagues published last month in the BMJ suggests at least one in four former National Football League (NFL) players who died between 2016 and 2021 had CTE—Nowinski says this is an underestimate. — Alexandra Pattillo, Scientific American, 23 Sep. 2026 The Heat currently has 19 players signed to contracts (14 on standard deals, three on two-way deals and two on an Exhibit 10 deal). — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 22 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for players

Noun

Love, at 85 years old, is the sole member of the original Beach Boys lineup who still tours under that name, performing all their classic, SPF-friendly hits with younger instrumentalists.

— Devon Ivie, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026
Even Rodrigo’s backing band, full of absolutely shredding women instrumentalists, played beside her on equal footing for exquisitely tasteful, post-punky revisions of songs across her three albums.

— Mikael Wood, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of instrumentalists

Noun

The Haunting at The Ridge has become spookier in its third year with more actors and a live stage show with the Cabaret Sinister.

— Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 2 Oct. 2026
The actors who work best are the ones who give themselves over to his sense of mischief and permissiveness.

— E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of actors

Noun

Rappers Lucki and Playboi Carti were seen in videos posted to social media, though the cause of the fight and its participants remain unclear.

— Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
The Associated Press spoke last week to participants and doctors at the health center where the trial is taking place in the eastern province of Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak.

— CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026

Definition of participants

Noun

The singer and songwriter hit the stage at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards for the first time as a soloist with a six-piece string section and more than a dozen additional musicians.

— Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 28 Sep. 2026
Below, see what all your favorite musicians wore to hit the red carpet at the 2026 MTV VMAs.

— Christian Allaire, Vogue, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of musicians

Noun

Some of my favorite artists were doing moments of silence at their concerts for this little old lady from suburban Illinois who never had any ambition beyond just trying to help people.

— Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2026
The happiness was real, for a time, but the two artists, each with his own distinct problems and needs, were not going to be happy together, or with anyone else, for long.

— Alan Hollinghurst, The New York Review of Books, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of artists

Noun

This luxurious adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel East of Eden, which tracks the dramatic entanglements of the Trask and Hamilton families in California's Salinas Valley, stars Florence Pugh, one of our favorite actresses right now.

— K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 29 Sep. 2026
The evening was a fitting toast to the shoe maestro, who celebrated his past, present and future alongside the Milan Fashion Week crowd and influential actresses and models, including Naomi Watts.

— Katie Abel, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of actresses

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“Players.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/players. Accessed 5 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of players

noun

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