plays 1 of 2

present tense third-person singular of play
1
2
3
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

4
5
6
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

plays

2 of 2

noun

plural of play

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plays
Verb
  • Carlile always performs multiple sets at the festival.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Cyrus says the phono stage performs at a level way above its class, featuring low background noise and high dynamic range, providing the perfect interface for a high-quality vinyl turntable.
    Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024
Verb
  • Each household puts its own unique spin on the holiday, but some Thanksgiving meal traditions remain universal across the South.
    Symiah Dorsey, Southern Living, 4 Oct. 2024
  • This puts it on track for its largest weekly gain in almost two years.
    Ian Mount, Fortune, 4 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • Given that and the fact that developing and putting together dramas takes time, any shows that Matthews has been working on with Banijay Entertainment labels are yet to be unveiled.
    Georg Szalai, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Oct. 2024
  • No movie leaving Netflix this month triggers my nostalgia more than Save the Last Dance, which, in my mind, is the epitome of 2000s-era teen dramas.
    Travis Bean, Forbes, 19 Oct. 2024
Verb
  • The veteran actor portrays a woman grappling with memory loss in director Suman Ghosh’s Bengali-language drama.
    Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 21 Oct. 2024
  • During a New York Comic Con panel with cast members Matt Smith, Fabien Frankel and Tom Glynn-Carney, the actors said that Rhys Ifans, who portrays Otto Hightower, is the cast member most likely to not know what is going on — or break character the most — causing hilarity to ensue.
    Marina Watts, People.com, 21 Oct. 2024
Verb
  • Sound Therapy Sound therapy can help change how your brain interprets sound or mask tinnitus with other noise.
    Carley Millhone, Health, 20 Oct. 2024
  • Also of note, a short drive from Sharon Springs, is the Iroquois Museum, with the world’s largest collection of contemporary Iroquois art as well as a 45-acre nature park that preserves and interprets the history of the area’s Indigenous people.
    Paul Brady, Travel + Leisure, 17 Oct. 2024
Verb
  • Here, Ronan manages to turn a familiar story into something like an epic of self-forgiveness.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 4 Oct. 2024
  • But as a movie, Folie à Deux is an off-key mess that barely manages to express its handful of good ideas.
    Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 4 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • This test rates a PC's performance for multimedia applications.
    PCMAG, PCMAG, 16 Nov. 2024
  • Rivals say the company leveraged its existing dominance in certain products — like the Windows operating system and classic workplace applications — to gain dominance in others, namely cybersecurity and cloud computing.
    Renee Dudley, ProPublica, 15 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • Some of the new security and privacy advances—live threat detection and cellular network defense, for example—may or may not hit Samsung devices on release.
    Zak Doffman, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024
  • Testers tipped over the space heaters to test the auto shutoff, noted hot surfaces on each heater, and tested connectivity via apps or smart devices when applicable.
    Katie Begley, People.com, 4 Oct. 2024
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near plays

Cite this Entry

“Plays.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plays. Accessed 23 Nov. 2024.

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