playa

American  

[plahy-uh] / ˈplaɪ ə /

noun

1. Western U.S. the sandy, salty, or mud-caked flat floor of a desert basin having interior drainage, usually occupied by a shallow lake during or after prolonged, heavy rains.

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playa British  

/ ˈplɑːjə, ˈplaja /

noun

1. (in the US) a temporary lake, or its dry often salty bed, in a desert basin

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playa Scientific  

/ plī′ə /

1. A dry lake bed at the bottom of a desert basin, sometimes temporarily covered with water. Playas have no vegetation and are among the flattest geographical features in the world.

2. Also called sink

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Etymology

Origin of playa

1850–55, < Spanish: shore < Late Latin plagia; see plage

Example Sentences

They use playa names, such as cactus or fuzzypants, making possible suspects hard to identify.

From Salon • Oct. 27, 2025

“We started thinking, ‘What is playa to us?’”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 17, 2025

The tower build continued far past opening day, as attendees appeared expecting performances from artists such as Treavor Moontribe and instead found a construction site — a common occurrence across the playa.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 9, 2024

"There's lots of evidence that playa is particularly emissive in terms of dust," Edwards said.

From Science Daily • May 29, 2024

In my mind, I heard Big Boi sing: I’m just a playa like that, my jeans was sharply creased.

From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates