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

Only the two teams that make the championship game playing a sixth game, but the Heat is likely out of the mix for the championship game with two losses in Las Vegas. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 14 July 2026

The excitement surrounding the 2026 FIFA World Cup has inspired many fans, from former players to beginners, to slide into a pair of shin guards and start playing the beautiful game. — Nicole Williams, AJC.com, 14 July 2026

Daytime in the lush park (three hours south of Mexico City) is rich with bands playing psychedelic cumbia, Afrobeat, Latin fusion, and more, while out at night come DJs, local and imported — like this year’s Satoshi Tomiie. — Matt Thompson, SPIN, 14 July 2026

Part of his charm here included playing the stalwart father figure to two terrified kids — someone a child could trust to stick around and keep watch all night when the dinosaurs came chomping. — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 14 July 2026

The former Miami Heat guard is now playing for the Milwaukee Bucks. — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 14 July 2026

Supporters weigh what's next Just one month ago, Alan Crichton was playing saxophone at Graham Platner's primary night victory party. — Tamara Keith, NPR, 14 July 2026

Olbrich credited a childhood spent playing volleyball with teaching him how to contest shots vertically without fouling, but defense is still an area of improvement for the young big man. — Joseph Dycus, Mercury News, 14 July 2026

That’s because he wasn’t supposed to be playing in the game at one point. — Rashad Alexander, Kansas City Star, 8 July 2026