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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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
• dramatizing
• imitating
• acting out
• mimicking
• masquerading
• role-playing
• taking on
• pantomiming
• clowning
• aping
• playacting
• posing (as)
• overplaying
• miming
• underplaying
• hamming
• coacting
• overacting
• starring (in)
• costarring

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

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• setting (to)
• settling (down)
• 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
• coping (with)
• grappling (with)
• contending (with)
• pulling
• coming to grips with
• controlling
• jockeying
• carrying out
• having a grip on
• engineering
• regulating
• guiding
• directing
• carrying off
• getting off
• steering
• running
• finessing
• commanding
• responding (to)
• bringing off
• reacting (to)
• micromanaging

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of playing

The Miami Hurricanes are back on the road and playing under the lights in a key Atlantic Coast Conference game. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 4 Oct. 2026

And his relatives in turn gave notes to the actors playing their younger selves and were encouraged to interrogate Ba as his coming-of-age story was dramatized. — Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 4 Oct. 2026

The menu, overseen by the chef Mike Cain, is largely playing the hits. — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026

Simmons explained how playing fast and free led to Mizzou scoring 35 consecutive points after Florida tied the game at 10 late in the second quarter. — Pj Green, Kansas City Star, 4 Oct. 2026

But after playing so well throughout the game, the lack of support from the offense ultimately was too much to overcome. — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 Oct. 2026

Besides playing the main stage, the real litmus test of MGU’s trajectory was an afternoon set on the Elks Park stage tucked away in downtown Telluride. — Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2026

Finn Azaz, whose mother has Israeli heritage, was among the Irish substitutes after playing from the start against Austria on Thursday. — ABC News, 4 Oct. 2026

In addition to playing music, Novoselic has been active in politics. — Julie Tremaine, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2026