as in to exploit
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 play (upon)
Verb
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This hypothetical No 9 would push opposition back lines towards their own goal, giving further space for Fernandes and other team-mates to exploit.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
16 June 2025 -
The farmer may lack the experience and capital, or otherwise, to exploit that potential commercial use.—
Peter J Reilly,
Forbes.com,
15 June 2025
Verb
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Not possessed of any special abilities, Achebe instead manipulates his ways into political power in Wakanda.—
Michileen Martin,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
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Deepfakes are manipulated images, audio recordings, or videos of real people that have been altered with artificial intelligence to misrepresent someone as saying or doing something that the person did not actually say or do.—
Alain Sherter,
CBS News,
6 June 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Play (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/play%20%28upon%29. Accessed 19 Jun. 2025.
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