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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At its core, the technology exploits salinity gradients between water sources.—
Tejasri Gururaj,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025 -
The film follows Caiden (Smith), a hapless fitness enthusiast who moves to Los Angeles dreaming of becoming a trainer, only to be diverted by Randy (Krumholtz), an opportunistic Hollywood Boulevard grifter who exploits his likeness to the world’s most famous superhero.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Overlook Hotel is, yes, sinister and even demonic, taunting Jack Torrance with bizarre visions that Kubrick manipulates to create a mounting sense of dread.—
Sophie Gilbert,
The Atlantic,
30 Oct. 2025
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This created a tunable metasurface, a structured layer that manipulates how waves interact with the surface, allowing the coating to absorb radar signals across various frequencies.—
Kapil Kajal,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
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“Plays (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plays%20%28upon%29. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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