played up

verb

Definition of played upnext
past tense of play up
as in highlighted
to indicate the importance of by centering attention on that TV news program plays up sensational stories just to get higher ratings

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for played up
  1. emphasized
  2. stressed
  3. featured
Verb
  • Last week, Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren emphasized that general manager Ryan Poles would be the point person for the search.
    Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 11 Dec. 2024
  • The company does not disclose revenues or profits, though Lazarus emphasized that the brand is profitable.
    David Moin, WWD, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of emphasized
Verb
  • While fans speculated whether Lee’s movie would follow the same premise, Spike Lee has stressed that this film is not a remake, so fans shouldn’t expect the same product.
    Marc Griffin, VIBE.com, 11 Dec. 2024
  • This could mean showing up for colleagues when they’re stressed, offering support, or delivering exceptional value.
    William Arruda, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of stressed
Verb
  • Having women athletes featured alongside their men counterparts helps normalize their presence in the sports industry and provides young players with diverse role models.
    Lindsey Darvin, Forbes, 11 Dec. 2024
  • Thunder top Mavs with barrage of 3-pointers Tuesday’s nightcap featured two of the NBA’s leading scorers - Luka Dončić and the Dallas Mavericks traveled north to face the Oklahoma City Thunder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
    Kevin Dotson, CNN, 11 Dec. 2024
Definition of featured
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near played up

played out

played up

played (upon)

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Played up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/played%20up. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...