as in to pose
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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
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However, this poses a dilemma during travel, since packing a steamer in my carry-on bag isn’t always an option.—
Genevieve Cepeda,
Travel + Leisure,
30 Aug. 2025
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Henderson posed a significant challenge for the Seahawks’ defenders.—
Shreyas Laddha,
Kansas City Star,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Cyber attackers exploit inherent trust to infiltrate systems, using methods like phishing or credential theft to masquerade as legitimate users.—
David Schiffer,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025
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He's been masquerading as a businessman for decades as nothing he's involved in has prospered except by using other people's money to find loophole after loophole and grift after grift.—
Wesley Stenzel,
EW.com,
20 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The callers would pretend to be collecting for causes such as clean drinking water in poor countries across the world, or for human trafficking victims.—
Tresa Baldas,
Freep.com,
27 Aug. 2025
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Labor Day weekend is a final chance to fire up the grill, argue over who makes the best potato salad and lounge around pretending Monday (and fall) isn’t coming.—
Emily Price,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
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One video included translations of the foreign-language background chatter during a call in which Pierogi is impersonating an elderly woman.—
Alex Riggins,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Aug. 2025
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Scam calls The Lake County Sheriff’s Office is warning of an ongoing phone scam where callers are impersonating police officers.—
Clifford Ward,
Chicago Tribune,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Unleashed Creativity and Innovation: Subconscious fears act as restrictions upon creativity; without these, the mind may become fertile ground for innovative ideas and solutions.—
Wyles Daniel,
USA Today,
28 Aug. 2025
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This year’s meeting achieved the significant milestone of moving from awareness to implementation, acting to embed regenerative principles across all stages of the yachting lifecycle.—
Kathleen Turner,
Forbes.com,
28 Aug. 2025
Verb
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DeJean will once again play a key role, serving as the team’s nickel back and punt returner.—
DJ Siddiqi,
Forbes.com,
1 Sep. 2025
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This year's slate of 9:30 a.m. international games, again, starts in Week 4 when the Vikings play Steelers and Rodgers at Croke Park in the NFL's first regular-season game in Dublin, Ireland.—
Jim Sergent,
USA Today,
1 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Authorities were forced to dissemble the back deck in order to rescue some of the pups that were beneath, according to the Strong Island Animal Rescue League, who assisted with the efforts.—
David Matthews,
New York Daily News,
7 Aug. 2025
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Building trust in companies and their leaders isn’t easy, given many decades of dissembling.—
Steve Denning,
Forbes.com,
6 July 2025
Verb
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In this first example against Leverkusen on Friday, Josh Acheampong plays through straight to Palmer, who shows his technical ability to feign a touch before allowing the ball to roll across his body, quickly moving possession out to winger Estevao.—
Thom Harris,
New York Times,
11 Aug. 2025
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From feigning ignorance to minimizing violence and praising its perpetrators, U.S. governments and presidents have long used deceptive rhetoric to legitimize the violence of leaders and countries the U.S. supports.—
Esther Brito Ruiz,
The Conversation,
7 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Playact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playact. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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