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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More to Explore In hundreds of grim mines, Sicilian children were exploited in slave-like conditions.—
Matthew Wills,
JSTOR Daily,
15 June 2026 -
Tensions between Sunnis and Shias have long been exploited in the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia.—
Mohammed Sergie,
semafor.com,
15 June 2026
Verb
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This enables robots to identify objects, track movement, plan motions, and manipulate components with a high degree of precision.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
19 June 2026
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Wang then placed his hands underneath her clothing and began touching her breasts before manipulating her arm to touch his genitals, the suit states.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
19 June 2026
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“Play (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/play%20%28upon%29. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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