Synonyms of playing

playing

verb

present participle of play

1

as in recreating

to engage in activity for amusement

told her son that he needed some time to run and play in the yard after his hard work

Synonyms & Similar Words

• recreating
• frolicking
• toying
• entertaining
• sporting
• rollicking
• relaxing
• amusing
• skylarking
• joking
• romping
• resting
• cavorting
• dabbling
• hanging
• disporting
• delighting
• teasing
• pleasing
• gamboling
• dallying
• dabbling
• frisking
• loafing
• diverting
• gambolling
• idling
• dawdling
• trifling
• goldbricking
• screwing around
• jesting
• hanging about
• messing around
• fiddling (around)
• puttering (around)
• lounging (around or about)
• bumming (around)
• slacking (off)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• working
• struggling
• striving
• laboring
• sweating
• toiling
• plodding
• straining
• plugging (away)
• slaving
• drudging

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• working
• struggling
• striving
• laboring
• sweating
• toiling
• plodding
• straining
• plugging (away)
• slaving
• drudging

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2

as in performing

to present a portrayal or performance of

played Hamlet in the campus production of the classic

Synonyms & Similar Words

• performing
• portraying
• doing
• interpreting
• representing
• depicting
• acting
• impersonating
• enacting
• rendering
• imitating
• dramatizing
• pantomiming
• playacting
• mimicking
• acting out
• overplaying
• miming
• masquerading
• hamming
• clowning
• underplaying
• role-playing
• aping
• overacting
• taking on
• coacting
• costarring
• co-acting
• co-starring
• posing (as)
• starring (in)

3

as in mocking

to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior

stop playing the innocent, because I know that you were behind that prank

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mocking
• imitating
• acting
• portraying
• impersonating
• personating
• mimicking
• monkeying
• miming
• travestying
• performing
• copying
• parodying
• aping
• masquerading (as)
• posing (as)

4

as in lounging

to spend time in aimless activity

just played around while we waited for the bus to arrive

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lounging
• idling
• loafing
• doodling
• fribbling
• tinkering
• fooling around
• hanging about
• trifling
• messing around
• dawdling
• kicking around
• lolling
• fiddling (around)
• puttering (around)
• pottering (around)
• dillydallying
• goofing (around)
• horsing around
• monkeying (around)
• dallying
• hanging (around or out)
• diddling (with)
• clowning (around)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• settling (down)
• setting (to)
• buckling (down)
• knuckling down

• settling (down)
• setting (to)
• buckling (down)
• knuckling down

5

as in managing

to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently

this is how we're going to play the situation

Synonyms & Similar Words

• managing
• manipulating
• addressing
• handling
• taking
• treating
• negotiating
• swinging
• maneuvering
• hacking
• fielding
• pulling
• controlling
• jockeying
• engineering
• coping (with)
• carrying out
• grappling (with)
• guiding
• regulating
• coming to grips with
• contending (with)
• directing
• finessing
• running
• having a grip on
• carrying off
• steering
• getting off
• bringing off
• micromanaging
• commanding
• reacting (to)
• responding (to)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• fumbling
• bungling
• botching
• mishandling
• muffing
• scamping
• messing (up)
• goofing (up)
• foozling
• lousing up

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• fumbling
• bungling
• botching
• mishandling
• muffing
• scamping
• messing (up)
• goofing (up)
• foozling
• lousing up

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6

as in putting

to risk (something) on the outcome of an uncertain event

figuring that she had little to lose, she played her last few bucks on the state lottery

Synonyms & Similar Words

• putting
• wagering
• betting
• gambling
• laying
• going
• offering
• staking
• bidding
• adventuring
• venturing
• speculating
• chancing
• jeopardizing
• endangering
• imperiling
• hazarding
• imperilling