as in to pose
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Trump’s modus, as ever, was to playact; his game has always been improv.
—Joe Klein, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 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
In a twist, The Sims is now a way to playact not just an alternate life, but any life at all.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2020
Cloud is almost childlike, a boy playacting at being a warrior and not always nailing the part.
—Julie Muncy, Wired, 10 Apr. 2020
Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
Trump’s modus, as ever, was to playact; his game has always been improv.
—Joe Klein, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 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
In a twist, The Sims is now a way to playact not just an alternate life, but any life at all.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 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
-
Even 6 inches of moving water can pose a serious risk of knocking you off your feet.—
NC Weather Bot,
Charlotte Observer,
26 May 2025
-
In one snap, Watts and the Ray Donovan star, 57, posed together for a selfie with their son, who wore a dark suit and boutonniere, in the middle.—
Kayla Grant,
People.com,
26 May 2025
Verb
-
But that sounds more like a corporate cost-cutting threat just masquerading as historical inevitability.—
Michael Serazio,
Time,
28 May 2025
-
Trailing 1-0, nothing summed it up so well as Harry Maguire masquerading as a forward again, a Hail Mary that can only work so often.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Verb
-
That’s the point of him; as the Mission: Impossible franchise’s secret agent extraordinaire, Hunt can pretend to be anyone, accomplish basically any physical task, and uncover conspiracies with aplomb.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
23 May 2025
-
That old man was Trump—who had just been hospitalized with COVID-19, but was pretending that everything was fine—and yet the column was about America’s gerontocracy as a whole, and what Smith suggested was an unsustainable media omertà around it.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
23 May 2025
Verb
-
Although the vast majority of the campaign emails were impersonating Meta, a small percentage also targeted PayPal users.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
-
According to the Hudson Valley Post on Monday, scammers have been impersonating police officers and claiming that victims must pay a fine to avoid arrest for failing to appear for jury duty.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 May 2025
Verb
-
Wages for Housework may not have been a practical movement, but a government that acted on its ideas of what wives and mothers need would be more likely to stimulate a baby boom than one offering a single check for each birth.—
Lily Meyer,
The Atlantic,
23 May 2025
-
These tools act as governance sentinels, standing guard at the frontier of change.—
Shazia Manus,
Forbes.com,
23 May 2025
Verb
-
Both Earps and Hampton have played a very similar number of minutes and faced a very similar number of shots, but Earps’ shot-stopping has not been as strong, conceding 1.6 goals more than expected, based on the quality of shots faced.—
Charlotte Harpur,
New York Times,
28 May 2025
-
Baty plays second base on days when Vientos starts at the hot corner, and Vientos gets DH days to get Baty at third.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
28 May 2025
Verb
-
Some firms, however, have more adaptable structures that allow for individual initiatives and self-managing networks of autonomous teams, that are assembled and dissembled as needs are met.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
26 Apr. 2025
-
The Kill or Capture Presidency You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.—
Aryeh Neier,
The New York Review of Books,
3 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Her approach to maternity style, now on full display during her third pregnancy, isn’t about soft-focus portraits or feigned vulnerability but strategy and precision.—
Sughnen Yongo,
Forbes.com,
6 May 2025
-
Despite feigning nonchalance during the interrogation, his own funny story betrays his true misery.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
4 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Playact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playact. Accessed 6 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share