plays (upon)

verb

present tense third-person singular of play (upon)
as in exploits
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 plays (upon)
  1. exploits
  2. manipulates
Verb
  • One solution exploits a mismatch between the way PHP measures compressed files and decoded files.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Early on, Sakurai exploits the inherent absurdity of telling a story populated by so many ludicrous characters.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of exploits
Verb
  • In Kazan’s remake, Cathy craves power and freedom and manipulates the men in her life to achieve those goals.
    — Katie Gunderman, Allure, 21 Oct. 2026
  • The series follows Mónica, a newly qualified lawyer who learns to defraud clients, manipulates her family to secure an inheritance, then betrays her mentor.
    — Anna Marie de la Fuente, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
Definition of manipulates
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

plays up
plays (upon)
plays (with)
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Cite this Entry

“Plays (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plays%20%28upon%29. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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