as in to pose
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Recent Examples of playact
Today, Margaret would be playacting her own massacre in active shooter drills at school.
—
Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
Trump’s modus, as ever, was to playact; his game has always been improv.
—Joe Klein, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2023
Trixie advises Alma to playact highness to flummox E.B.
—Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2021
Today, this dynamic lives on in the form of Roblox strip clubs, where young people — mostly, minors — playact at adult sexuality.
—Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2021
The world had first required her to playact as a man.
—Will Stephenson, Harper's Magazine, 15 Sep. 2020
Yona has it better than the locals who have agreed to playact, and likely die, in Mui’s fake new disaster.
—Madeline Leung Coleman, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2020
In a twist, The Sims is now a way to playact not just an alternate life, but any life at all.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2020
Cloud is almost childlike, a boy playacting at being a warrior and not always nailing the part.
—Julie Muncy, Wired, 10 Apr. 2020
Petula Dvorak, Washington Post, 1 May 2023
Trump’s modus, as ever, was to playact; his game has always been improv.
—Joe Klein, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2023
Trixie advises Alma to playact highness to flummox E.B.
—Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 18 Dec. 2021
Today, this dynamic lives on in the form of Roblox strip clubs, where young people — mostly, minors — playact at adult sexuality.
—Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 12 Sep. 2021
The world had first required her to playact as a man.
—Will Stephenson, Harper's Magazine, 15 Sep. 2020
Yona has it better than the locals who have agreed to playact, and likely die, in Mui’s fake new disaster.
—Madeline Leung Coleman, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2020
In a twist, The Sims is now a way to playact not just an alternate life, but any life at all.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 19 Apr. 2020
Cloud is almost childlike, a boy playacting at being a warrior and not always nailing the part.
—Julie Muncy, Wired, 10 Apr. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for playact
Verb
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Openly feuding with Trump could pose multiple hurdles for Tesla and the rest of Musk's sprawling business empire.—
Chris Kirkham,
USA Today,
7 June 2025
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Follow these recommendations from the NWS to stay safe in heavy rain: Beware of swollen waterways: During heavy rain, avoid parking or walking near culverts or drainage ditches, where swift-moving water can pose a serious risk.—
Bay Area Weather Report,
Mercury News,
7 June 2025
Verb
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But that sounds more like a corporate cost-cutting threat just masquerading as historical inevitability.—
Michael Serazio,
Time,
28 May 2025
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Trailing 1-0, nothing summed it up so well as Harry Maguire masquerading as a forward again, a Hail Mary that can only work so often.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Verb
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Scam warnings have been issued in multiple states over criminals pretending to be from the Department of Motor Vehicles.—
Theo Burman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
4 June 2025
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Johnson then dramatically threw the sweater across the front of her dress before relaxing deep into her seat and — now protected from any unwanted surprises — pretending to wipe the sweat from her brow.—
Emlyn Travis Published,
EW.com,
3 June 2025
Verb
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Using tools like deepfakes, cybercriminals can impersonate high-ranking executives with alarming precision, manipulating trust to override judgment.—
Shai Gabay,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
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The White House has launched an investigation into attempts to impersonate President Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles.—
Jordan King
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 May 2025
Verb
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Expansion process As Daly noted in a Q&A with The Athletic two weeks ago, the league doesn’t anticipate opening a traditional expansion process as much as continuing to listen to interested parties and perhaps acting on it from there at some point in time.—
Pierre LeBrun,
New York Times,
5 June 2025
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The actress has admitted publicly before that her first time acting for the screen was fraught, in part due to the fact that she was being directed by her father.—
Tommy McArdle,
People.com,
4 June 2025
Verb
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Sarah Snook, who played Shiv Roy on that HBO drama, was nominated (and went on to win!), following in the footsteps of her costars Jeremy Strong and Keiran Culkin.—
Melissa Locker,
Time,
9 June 2025
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Selected for Function Hazen came across Szostak’s idea while thinking about the origin of life—an issue that drew him in as a mineralogist, because chemical reactions taking place on minerals have long been suspected to have played a key role in getting life started.—
Philip Ball,
Wired News,
8 June 2025
Verb
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Some firms, however, have more adaptable structures that allow for individual initiatives and self-managing networks of autonomous teams, that are assembled and dissembled as needs are met.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
26 Apr. 2025
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The Kill or Capture Presidency You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.—
Aryeh Neier,
The New York Review of Books,
3 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Most of the other friends will feign interest and offer complimentary comments about the design.—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
27 May 2025
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Pro Football Talk reported that a third player received a different sham call, this one feigning that he had been traded.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
29 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Playact.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/playact. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
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