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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Billionaire Larry Ellison helped lift his son’s deal with his vast wealth and ties to Trump and Republicans, exploiting regulatory uncertainty surrounding Netflix.—
Meg James,
Los Angeles Times,
28 Feb. 2026 -
This seventh chapter just seems to be exploiting our affection for the Scream team’s history and thinking die-hards will simply go see anything with the name slapped on it.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
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There’s a rich commonality between him and Venus that could be explored here—who’s manipulating Rika more?—
Sarah Chihaya,
New Yorker,
3 Mar. 2026
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Epstein offered to host Mandelson in a New York apartment in 2009, about five months before the two discussed by email manipulating then-British premier Gordon Brown to step down.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Feb. 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 7 Mar. 2026.
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