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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for playing (on or upon)

Verb

After the issue was identified, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office directed districts to pause electronic disbursements using BM Technologies and issue paper checks or other payment methods instead.

— Tarini Mehta, Sacbee.com, 3 Nov. 2026
Its sweet, soft, umami-rich profile can shift the taste of a recipe, so Czerwony suggests using about half the usual amount of garlic and adjusting from there.

— Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 3 Nov. 2026

Definition of using

Verb

Menin described the Council’s approval as an important consumer protection measure against businesses exploiting personal information.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 13 Nov. 2026
The principle of justice calls for not exploiting a public's lack of information, cognitive biases, or lack of trust.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Nov. 2026

Definition of exploiting

Verb

Separately, the Texas House impeached him in 2023 on charges of bribery, corruption, and abusing his office.

— Aidan McLaughlin, Vanity Fair, 30 Oct. 2026
The actor’s ex-husband Olivier Martinez was granted the order earlier this month after accusing the star of physically abusing their teenage son.

— Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 30 Oct. 2026

Definition of abusing

Verb

Barri Worth Girvan, a veteran government employee who ran on a platform of leveraging her experience to advocate for residents, declared victory in the race for Los Angeles City Council’s Third District seat late Friday.

— Itzel Luna, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
The new agreement will add 300 Zipline sites nationwide with the potential to expand further, leveraging a physical network that puts 90 percent of Americans within 10 miles of a Walmart store.

— Glenn Taylor, Footwear News, 6 Nov. 2026

Definition of leveraging

Verb

The scenarios in which these tradeoffs may take place are wide-ranging, with the Anthropic researchers citing opening an auto plant, downsizing a company, and manipulating election sentiment as examples.

— Trevor Laurence Jockims, CNBC, 8 Nov. 2026
The former Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley recently pleaded guilty to manipulating his prop bets.

— New Yorker, New Yorker, 8 Nov. 2026

Definition of manipulating

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

playing hooky

playing (on or upon)

playing out

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Playing (on or upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playing%20%28on%20or%20upon%29. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of playing (on or upon)

verb

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

boilerplate

Popular in Grammar & Usage

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

31 Useful Rhetorical Devices

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Popular in Wordplay

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Longest Long Words List

The Words of the Week - Nov. 13

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

Popular

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes