PLAYING (ON OR UPON) Synonyms: 24 Similar Words

playing (on or upon)

verb

present participle of play (on or upon)

as in imposing (on or upon)

to take unfair advantage of the candidate played on the voters' prejudices

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for playing (on or upon)

Verb

Clay regularly advises organizations on using existential psychology and behavioral science to improve their products, services, and workplace culture.

— Big Think, Big Think, 6 Aug. 2026
When South Korea’s stock market plummeted last month by more than 40% from its June high, Yun said data suggested that many traders who were using leverage to try and multiply returns were wiped out.

— Stephanie Yang, CNN Money, 6 Aug. 2026

Definition of using

Verb

Disgusted that any adult would ever consider exploiting a child in such a vile and predatory way.

— Bryan Lynn, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
In OpenAI's case, the model broke out of its testing environment by exploiting a previously unknown vulnerability to complete a task it was assigned.

— Kai Nicol-Schwarz, CNBC, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of exploiting

Verb

In the film, Morton delivers a powerful monologue about men abusing power.

— Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 7 Aug. 2026
An article in the Washington Post chronicled how police officers were caught abusing surveillance technology to stalk ex-wives and, in at least one case, an actress a police officer wanted to meet.

— Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2026

Definition of abusing

Verb

Other teens are taking matters into their own hands by making their case in-person and leveraging local work programs.

— Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 9 Aug. 2026
This evolved into practical applications by 2020, with businesses leveraging AI for insights and personalized services.

— Dr. Diane Hamilton, Forbes.com, 8 Aug. 2026

Definition of leveraging

Verb

By manipulating network traffic, the attackers redirect guests to fake sign-in pages without first sending a phishing email or compromising the PC.

— Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2026
What is your reaction to Drew being the one to rat you out about lying and manipulating Angela with your dead mother story?

— Matt Minton, Variety, 31 July 2026

Definition of manipulating

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playing hooky

playing (on or upon)

playing out

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“Playing (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playing%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of playing (on or upon)

verb

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