play-act
Britishverb
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(intr) to pretend or make believe
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(intr) to behave in an overdramatic or affected manner
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to act in or as in (a play)
Other Word Forms
- play-acting noun
- play-actor noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So you start to just play-act the situation that you're in and see if you can get out of it.
From The Guardian • Oct. 13, 2020
Several times, the kids play-act the old cartoonish “Tom Sawyer” game—in which the rascal tricks his buddies into doing his fence-painting chore—and the reference is apt.
From The New Yorker • Dec. 17, 2018
After Paps leaves with no plans to return, the boys play-act as their parents, roleplaying their reunion over the phone.
From Slate • Aug. 15, 2018
They play-act traumatic scenarios, like getting a shot at the doctor’s office, in preparation for handling stressful situations in real life.
From The Verge • Dec. 22, 2017
It had been helpful and even laudable to play-act the chief scenes when the story was beginning, but now they had no time.
From Red Cap Tales Stolen from the Treasure Chest of the Wizard of the North by Scott, Walter, Sir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
