play it cool
Idioms-
Act cautiously and shrewdly, as in When they asked how much she earned, she played it cool . [ Slang ; 1940s]
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Become or remain calm, as in When they start to tease you, just play it cool . [ Slang ; 1940s]
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.
On the way out, after one fellow diner tells Domingo he’s a fan, the actor teases another who tries to play it cool after spotting the star.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
Asked if she'll say Hello when she meets Adele next weekend, Ruti says she is going to play it cool.
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2022
How do you play it cool with that?
From Los Angeles Times • May 31, 2022
“It’s a big deal. I’d sit up here and try to play it cool on that, but it wouldn’t be real,” Harbaugh said.
From Seattle Times • May 25, 2022
He’d told those girls before, Egypt was Egypt, but at school you had to play it cool.
From "The Egypt Game" by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
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.
