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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One of the first allegations that Epstein was exploiting his associations with the modeling world appeared in a police report filed in 1997 in California.—
Curt Devine,
CNN Money,
13 June 2026 -
Dynamic pricing is simply an algorithm created to achieve that by exploiting market power.—
Stefan Szymanski,
Fortune,
12 June 2026
Verb
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Fears of government officials manipulating world events – including the Iran war – to make a quick buck.—
Matt Motta,
The Conversation,
16 June 2026
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What online scammers are looking to steal The FBI issued a warning last month that cybercriminals are manipulating or reproducing the official FIFA World Cup website to scam fans who are looking for tickets, hospitality packages, merchandise, streaming access and betting opportunities.—
Karen Garcia,
Los Angeles Times,
11 June 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 20 Jun. 2026.
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