playact

Definition of playactnext

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of playact Today, Margaret would be playacting her own massacre in active shooter drills at school. Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 1 May 2023 Trixie advises Alma to playact highness to flummox E.B. Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2021 Today, this dynamic lives on in the form of Roblox strip clubs, where young people — mostly, minors — playact at adult sexuality. Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2021 The world had first required her to playact as a man. Will Stephenson, Harper's Magazine, 15 Sep. 2020 Yona has it better than the locals who have agreed to playact, and likely die, in Mui’s fake new disaster. Madeline Leung Coleman, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2020 Cloud is almost childlike, a boy playacting at being a warrior and not always nailing the part. Julie Muncy, Wired, 10 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for playact
Verb
  • My office will continue to vigorously prosecute defendants who pose serious threats to our community’s safety, especially our children.
    Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 19 June 2026
  • That leaves little time for work, which can pose an additional financial burden.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
Verb
  • What’s worrying to him is that abundance can masquerade as sufficiency.
    Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 9 June 2026
  • Conspiracy of data Whenever Americans are hungry for answers, platforms such as these can more easily masquerade as objective data analysis tools.
    Matthew N. Hannah, The Conversation, 8 May 2026
Verb
  • The criminals then follow up by phone, pretending to be IT support and ask employees to join screen-sharing sessions or install remote-access software.
    Gene Marks, Forbes.com, 14 June 2026
  • Beauty, then, arises from the pain and struggle of experiencing oneself as a site of divine truancy, and ugly is that which pretends to be directly equivalent to the soul, God, etc.
    Esther Yi, New Yorker, 14 June 2026
Verb
  • Denver Sheriff Elias Diggins said his department is aware of scams involving people impersonating Denver Sheriff Department employees.
    Tori Mason, CBS News, 12 June 2026
  • The former Smiths frontman first voiced his concerns about being impersonated online in April 2025.
    Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 12 June 2026
Verb
  • DeSantis panned that idea, noting that the federal government isn’t acting.
    Marc Levy, Los Angeles Times, 21 June 2026
  • The report’s key finding was that an odd, angry, 24-year-old assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, had acted alone, for reasons nobody could quite figure out.
    Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 20 June 2026
Verb
  • But questions remain about whether will decide to play elsewhere or close the chapter on his storied career.
    Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 17 June 2026
  • Allen plays Roxie, a dying wife and mother who arrives in the trauma bay during the show’s second season.
    Clayton Davis, Variety, 17 June 2026
Verb
  • Instead, whole grains and foods are dissembled into molecules which, with the help of artificial colorings, flavorings and gluelike emulsifiers, are heated, pounded, shaped or extruded into any food a manufacturer can dream up.
    Sandee LaMotte, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026
  • When McKenzie asks him how much he’s contributed to the coffers of politicians, his dodging of the question is pure dissembling theater.
    Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 20 Apr. 2026
Verb
  • The heavy side part feigns an almost asymmetrical look, which offsets heaviness on the ends and frames the face in a fun way.
    Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 16 June 2026
  • The documentary explores the dark web of fraud, deception and malice that led Parker to feign a pregnancy to try to bolster her relationship with boyfriend Wade Griffin — and when her fake due date passed, kill Hancock for her baby, Braxlynn Sage.
    KC Baker, PEOPLE, 13 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Playact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playact. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.

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