as in exploiting
to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means
played upon the customer's vanity to convince her to buy the expensive makeup kit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for playing (upon)
Verb
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In this way, prediction markets are the perfect technology for a low-trust society, simultaneously exploiting and reifying an environment in which believing the motives behind any person or action becomes harder.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
5 Mar. 2026 -
Cohen was accused of exploiting his advisory and fiduciary relationships with these players.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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For example gerrymandering, or the practice of manipulating electoral district boundaries to favor one political party, is an ongoing, albeit controversial tactic among both Democrats and Republicans.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2026
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The skills could include tasks such as folding boxes, assembling components, or even manipulating objects, activities that still remain challenging for many robotic systems.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Mar. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Playing (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playing%20%28upon%29. Accessed 13 Mar. 2026.
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