See play-act on Wiktionary
Download JSON data for play-act meaning in All languages combined (4.7kB)
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "play-acts",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "play-acting",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "play-acted",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "play-acted",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "play-act (third-person singular simple present play-acts, present participle play-acting, simple past and past participle play-acted)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "play-acting"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "play-actor"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "play-actress"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"glosses": [
"To perform on stage; to act in a play."
],
"id": "en-play-act-en-verb-jYDoZkQI",
"links": [
[
"perform",
"perform"
],
[
"stage",
"stage"
],
[
"act",
"act"
],
[
"play",
"play"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To perform on stage; to act in a play."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2019 January 11, Spencer Kornhaber, “Lady Gaga’s R. Kelly Apology Is a Reminder That Abuse Isn’t Provocative”, in The Atlantic",
"text": "Kelly’s involvement made it a song not only about fame, but also about alleged sex across creepy power differentials. This wasn’t really even subtext: Gaga and Kelly playacted an Oval Office affair at the American Music Awards.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To play (a scene, role etc.); to act out."
],
"id": "en-play-act-en-verb-NazLYXYl",
"links": [
[
"play",
"play"
],
[
"scene",
"scene"
],
[
"role",
"role"
],
[
"act out",
"act out"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To play (a scene, role etc.); to act out."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "10 12 74 5",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2020 August 24, Jennifer Senior, “Let the Culture Wars Begin. Again.”, in The New York Times",
"text": "The most Trump can imagine selling is himself, and what that self is is merely a hologram, a weightless shape. He play-acts at being a businessman. He play-acts at being a president. The only thing that’s authentic about him is his comic-book worldview, one divided between heroes and villains, us and them.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 November 20, Owen Gleiberman, “‘Happiest Season’ Review: Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis in a Christmas Rom-Com That Earns Its Emotion”, in Variety",
"text": "Abby, watching Harper give the closeted performance that she’s been giving her whole life, sees a side of her that she doesn’t like — the one who play-acts and denies herself almost too well.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2022 September 8, Monica Hesse, “Queen Elizabeth II did her job”, in The Washington Post",
"text": "Little girls aren’t taught to play-act at being queen. They play-act at being princesses, which is a much gauzier, more romantic kind of role.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To engage in pretence or insincere behavior, often in order to mislead someone or gain an advantage."
],
"id": "en-play-act-en-verb-zha3nq6Z",
"links": [
[
"pretence",
"pretence"
],
[
"insincere",
"insincere"
],
[
"behavior",
"behavior"
],
[
"mislead",
"mislead"
],
[
"gain",
"gain"
],
[
"advantage",
"advantage"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, figuratively) To engage in pretence or insincere behavior, often in order to mislead someone or gain an advantage."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"intransitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2018 April 3, Nitsuh Abebe, “Why Have We Soured on the ‘Devil’s Advocate’?”, in The New York Times",
"text": "If the devil’s advocate playacts disagreement with you for the sake of strengthening your argument, the concern troll is his mirror image, a person who pretends to agree with you in order to undermine you.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 September 6, Simon Briggs, “Novak Djokovic possesses a volcanic intensity but sometimes that fire shows itself in unflattering ways”, in The Daily Telegraph",
"text": "Asked after the match if Djokovic had been play-acting the symptoms of cramp, Murray replied “I don't know. I would hope that that wouldn't be the case. But, yeah, if it was cramp, that's a tough thing to recover from and play as well as he did at the end.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To make a pretence of; to feign or simulate."
],
"id": "en-play-act-en-verb-Xbah0owd",
"links": [
[
"pretence",
"pretence"
],
[
"feign",
"feign"
],
[
"simulate",
"simulate"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, figuratively) To make a pretence of; to feign or simulate."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"transitive"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
"word": "playact"
}
],
"word": "play-act"
}
{
"categories": [
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English verbs"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "play-acts",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "play-acting",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "play-acted",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "play-acted",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "play-act (third-person singular simple present play-acts, present participle play-acting, simple past and past participle play-acted)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"related": [
{
"word": "play-acting"
},
{
"word": "play-actor"
},
{
"word": "play-actress"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs"
],
"glosses": [
"To perform on stage; to act in a play."
],
"links": [
[
"perform",
"perform"
],
[
"stage",
"stage"
],
[
"act",
"act"
],
[
"play",
"play"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive) To perform on stage; to act in a play."
],
"tags": [
"intransitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2019 January 11, Spencer Kornhaber, “Lady Gaga’s R. Kelly Apology Is a Reminder That Abuse Isn’t Provocative”, in The Atlantic",
"text": "Kelly’s involvement made it a song not only about fame, but also about alleged sex across creepy power differentials. This wasn’t really even subtext: Gaga and Kelly playacted an Oval Office affair at the American Music Awards.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To play (a scene, role etc.); to act out."
],
"links": [
[
"play",
"play"
],
[
"scene",
"scene"
],
[
"role",
"role"
],
[
"act out",
"act out"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive) To play (a scene, role etc.); to act out."
],
"tags": [
"transitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English intransitive verbs",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2020 August 24, Jennifer Senior, “Let the Culture Wars Begin. Again.”, in The New York Times",
"text": "The most Trump can imagine selling is himself, and what that self is is merely a hologram, a weightless shape. He play-acts at being a businessman. He play-acts at being a president. The only thing that’s authentic about him is his comic-book worldview, one divided between heroes and villains, us and them.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 November 20, Owen Gleiberman, “‘Happiest Season’ Review: Kristen Stewart and Mackenzie Davis in a Christmas Rom-Com That Earns Its Emotion”, in Variety",
"text": "Abby, watching Harper give the closeted performance that she’s been giving her whole life, sees a side of her that she doesn’t like — the one who play-acts and denies herself almost too well.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2022 September 8, Monica Hesse, “Queen Elizabeth II did her job”, in The Washington Post",
"text": "Little girls aren’t taught to play-act at being queen. They play-act at being princesses, which is a much gauzier, more romantic kind of role.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To engage in pretence or insincere behavior, often in order to mislead someone or gain an advantage."
],
"links": [
[
"pretence",
"pretence"
],
[
"insincere",
"insincere"
],
[
"behavior",
"behavior"
],
[
"mislead",
"mislead"
],
[
"gain",
"gain"
],
[
"advantage",
"advantage"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(intransitive, figuratively) To engage in pretence or insincere behavior, often in order to mislead someone or gain an advantage."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"intransitive"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"English transitive verbs"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2018 April 3, Nitsuh Abebe, “Why Have We Soured on the ‘Devil’s Advocate’?”, in The New York Times",
"text": "If the devil’s advocate playacts disagreement with you for the sake of strengthening your argument, the concern troll is his mirror image, a person who pretends to agree with you in order to undermine you.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020 September 6, Simon Briggs, “Novak Djokovic possesses a volcanic intensity but sometimes that fire shows itself in unflattering ways”, in The Daily Telegraph",
"text": "Asked after the match if Djokovic had been play-acting the symptoms of cramp, Murray replied “I don't know. I would hope that that wouldn't be the case. But, yeah, if it was cramp, that's a tough thing to recover from and play as well as he did at the end.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To make a pretence of; to feign or simulate."
],
"links": [
[
"pretence",
"pretence"
],
[
"feign",
"feign"
],
[
"simulate",
"simulate"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(transitive, figuratively) To make a pretence of; to feign or simulate."
],
"tags": [
"figuratively",
"transitive"
]
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "playact"
}
],
"word": "play-act"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.