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)
Verb
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All the while, Tony Award winning director David Cromer (The Band’s Visit) exploits audience suspicion.—
Shania Russell,
Entertainment Weekly,
9 Jan. 2026 -
And nobody exploits a flaw quite like a cornered Shanahan.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
6 Jan. 2026
Verb
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An onboard synthesizer manipulates a small set of core sounds to mimic everything from the roar of a jet plane to the flushing of a toilet through a little speaker in the Brick.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
6 Jan. 2026
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Vecna psychically finds Hopper (David Harbour) and manipulates him to break the tank, cutting off the psychic link for her, Kali, and Max.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Jan. 2026
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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 14 Jan. 2026.
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