PLAYS Synonyms: 240 Similar and Opposite Words

plays 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of play

as in recreates

to engage in activity for amusement told her son that he needed some time to run and play in the yard after his hard work

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as in performs

to present a portrayal or performance of played Hamlet in the campus production of the classic

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as in mocks

to pretend to be (what one is not) in appearance or behavior stop playing the innocent, because I know that you were behind that prank

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as in idles

to spend time in aimless activity just played around while we waited for the bus to arrive

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as in manipulates

to deal with (something) usually skillfully or efficiently this is how we're going to play the situation

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as in puts

to risk (something) on the outcome of an uncertain event figuring that she had little to lose, she played her last few bucks on the state lottery

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plays

2 of 2

noun

plural of play

as in dramas

a written work in which the story is told through speech and action that is intended to be acted out on stage we'll be putting on a school play using that stage

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as in uses

the act or practice of employing something for a particular purpose the host's sense of humor was obviously in play during the awards ceremony

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as in ruses

a clever often underhanded means to achieve an end the guy at the bar made an unusually creative play to get her phone number

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of plays

Verb

Reid plays this so well, but the direction is a little over the top, with drug-trip visuals that are too distracting to follow the dense-as-ever disjointed narration. —

Rebecca Alter, Vulture, 8 June 2026 Haiti opens its World Cup campaign against Scotland in Boston on June 13, then plays Brazil June 19 in Philadelphia and Morocco June 24 in Atlanta. —

Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 7 June 2026 Fellow first-time nations in the new format are Cape Verde, Jordan (which plays twice in the Bay Area) and Uzbekistan. —

Laurence Miedema, Mercury News, 7 June 2026 The garden actually is a place for children, and this art plays nicely to a younger audience. —

Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver Post, 7 June 2026 Iran plays its first two games in Inglewood, California, against New Zealand on June 15, and Belgium six days later, then heads to Seattle to face Egypt on June 26. —

ABC News, 7 June 2026 Janhvi Kapoor plays his love interest. —

Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 June 2026 Of the 52 players selected by England manager Thomas Tuchel and Spain boss Luis de la Fuente, only Three Lions forward Ivan Toney currently plays his club soccer outside Europe. —

Emile Nuh, CNN Money, 7 June 2026 At sunset its Amina Muaddi slingbacks, when honeymooners head to the bar to make the most of the martini shots while a could-be-a-model DJ plays cool and breezy beats in a midriff-bearing top. —

Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 1 June 2026

Noun

But Wembanyama made other costly crunch-time plays leading into that moment. —

Mark Medina, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026 Scary Movie, the latest entry in the beloved horror parody franchise, is overloaded with riffs, digs, plays, and puns on modern cinema. —

Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 6 June 2026 Harper added 15 points off the bench, including multiple late plays that nearly saved San Antonio. —

C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 6 June 2026 Then, just three plays later, Grier was sacked by Saints defensive end Cam Jordan. —

Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 4 June 2026 Still, recoupment is an increasingly tough milestone to reach, with only a handful of shows from this season have recouped thus far, with those limited to starry plays. —

Caitlin Huston, HollywoodReporter, 4 June 2026 Her credits also include American Gigolo and Best Foot Forward, as well as the plays Playground Games and Snow. —

Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 4 June 2026 Max Schuemann started in place of Judge and made a pair of nice plays in his first career start in right field. —

Cbs New York Team, CBS News, 4 June 2026 Kenady’s clutch plays helped the Redhawks put the game away. —

Matt Le Cren, Chicago Tribune, 4 June 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plays

Verb

Gage’s version recreates the speech in a Southern dialect, which Truth almost certainly never used.

— Tracy Grant, Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 May 2026
Instead of a Buffy-like television show, however, this one recreates a fictional slasher franchise called Camp Miasma, a typical homicidal-maniac-versus-horny-teens-in-the-woods series that bears more than a passing resemblance to the Friday the 13th movies.

— David Fear, Rolling Stone, 20 May 2026