playmaker

[pley-mey-ker]

noun

Sports.

1. an offensive player, as in basketball or ice hockey, who executes plays designed to put one or more teammates in a position to score.

2. Archaic.,  a playwright; dramatist.

playmaker

/ ˈpleɪˌmeɪkə /

noun

1. sport a player whose role is to create scoring opportunities for his or her team-mates

Other Word Forms

• playmaking noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of playmaker¹

First recorded in 1520–30; play + maker

Example Sentences

"We can't give up yet -- there's still a long way to go. We have to pick ourselves up... we knew today was a tough match," said veteran playmaker and Oviedo captain Cazorla.

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The kid who lit up Tennessee high-school football remains the same electrifying playmaker.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

While Paul worked in the lineage of Cousy and Stockton—basketball’s legendary little guys—the NBA started favoring bigger playmakers, who could pass the ball but also score by the bucketload.

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Meanwhile Argentina have opted to keep Ojomoh's Bath team-mate Santiago Carreras among the replacements, after the playmaker was deployed to impressive effect from the bench in last weekend's win over Scotland.

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The Barcelona playmaker twice came close to scoring a second from long range but Bayindir tipped over both efforts.

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