See play dumb in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"forms": [
{
"form": "plays dumb",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "playing dumb",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "played dumb",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "played dumb",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
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{
"args": {
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},
"expansion": "play dumb (third-person singular simple present plays dumb, present participle playing dumb, simple past and past participle played dumb)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1904, Rex Ellingwood Beach, “The Mule Driver and the Garrulous Mute”, in Pardners:",
"text": "I played dumb 'cause I knew if I talked at all, being simple and guileless, you all would twist me up and have the whole thing in a jiffy.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign muteness."
],
"id": "en-play_dumb-en-verb-D80gaXXT",
"links": [
[
"pretend",
"pretend"
],
[
"dumb",
"dumb"
],
[
"either",
"either"
],
[
"feign",
"feign"
],
[
"mute",
"mute"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign muteness."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal"
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "9 91",
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{
"_dis": "23 77",
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{
"_dis": "19 81",
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{
"_dis": "22 78",
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{
"_dis": "19 81",
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{
"_dis": "16 84",
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{
"_dis": "19 81",
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"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
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{
"_dis": "24 76",
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"parents": [],
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{
"_dis": "17 83",
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{
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{
"_dis": "16 84",
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"source": "w+disamb"
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"_dis": "15 85",
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{
"_dis": "18 82",
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],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1966 April 1, “Milestones”, in Time:",
"text": "Died. Virginia Hill, 49, redheaded, free-spending playmate of the underworld... who later acted out a cameo role before the late Senator Estes Kefauver's Senate crime committee, playing dumb about the business dealings of her many racketeer friends.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006 Sept. 17, David Mills, \"Soft Eyes\", The Wire, 00:35:20",
"text": "Valchek: Kid, careers have been launched on a helluvalot less. Just... shut up and play dumb.\nHauk: I can do that, no problem."
}
],
"glosses": [
"To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign stupidity or ignorance of some knowledge, usually in order to avoid responsibility or gain some advantage."
],
"id": "en-play_dumb-en-verb-OJ-qjamm",
"links": [
[
"pretend",
"pretend"
],
[
"dumb",
"dumb"
],
[
"either",
"either"
],
[
"feign",
"feign"
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[
"stupidity",
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[
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"some",
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[
"knowledge",
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[
"usually",
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[
"in order to",
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[
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[
"responsibility",
"responsibility"
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[
"gain",
"gain"
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[
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"advantage"
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign stupidity or ignorance of some knowledge, usually in order to avoid responsibility or gain some advantage."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "play stupid"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal"
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}
],
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"audio": "En-au-play dumb.ogg",
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"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/En-au-play_dumb.ogg"
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],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "50 50",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to pretend to be mute",
"word": "esittää mykkää"
},
{
"_dis1": "50 50",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be mute",
"word": "Stummheit vortäuschen"
},
{
"_dis1": "50 50",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be mute",
"word": "vorgeben stumm zu sein"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fer l'orni"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fer el desentès"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "van den domme houden"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "esittää tyhmää"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "faire l’innocent"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "sich dumm stellen"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "(einen) auf dumm machen"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fare lo gnorri"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fare l'innocente"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fare il finto tonto"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "se pravi naudren",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "се прави наудрен"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "udawać Greka"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "udać Greka"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fazer-se de tonto"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "face pe prostul"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "pridúrivatʹsja",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "приду́риваться"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hacerse el sueco"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "hacerse el longuis"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"Colombia"
],
"word": "hacerse el/la de las gafas"
},
{
"_dis1": "45 55",
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "spela dum"
}
],
"word": "play dumb"
}
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"Terms with Dutch translations",
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"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Italian translations",
"Terms with Macedonian translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"Terms with Romanian translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Spanish translations",
"Terms with Swedish translations"
],
"forms": [
{
"form": "plays dumb",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "playing dumb",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
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{
"form": "played dumb",
"tags": [
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"past"
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{
"form": "played dumb",
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"expansion": "play dumb (third-person singular simple present plays dumb, present participle playing dumb, simple past and past participle played dumb)",
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}
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"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
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"English informal terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
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{
"ref": "1904, Rex Ellingwood Beach, “The Mule Driver and the Garrulous Mute”, in Pardners:",
"text": "I played dumb 'cause I knew if I talked at all, being simple and guileless, you all would twist me up and have the whole thing in a jiffy.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign muteness."
],
"links": [
[
"pretend",
"pretend"
],
[
"dumb",
"dumb"
],
[
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"either"
],
[
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"feign"
],
[
"mute",
"mute"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign muteness."
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English idioms",
"English informal terms",
"English terms with quotations"
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1966 April 1, “Milestones”, in Time:",
"text": "Died. Virginia Hill, 49, redheaded, free-spending playmate of the underworld... who later acted out a cameo role before the late Senator Estes Kefauver's Senate crime committee, playing dumb about the business dealings of her many racketeer friends.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2006 Sept. 17, David Mills, \"Soft Eyes\", The Wire, 00:35:20",
"text": "Valchek: Kid, careers have been launched on a helluvalot less. Just... shut up and play dumb.\nHauk: I can do that, no problem."
}
],
"glosses": [
"To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign stupidity or ignorance of some knowledge, usually in order to avoid responsibility or gain some advantage."
],
"links": [
[
"pretend",
"pretend"
],
[
"dumb",
"dumb"
],
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"either",
"either"
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[
"feign",
"feign"
],
[
"stupidity",
"stupidity"
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[
"ignorance",
"ignorance"
],
[
"some",
"some"
],
[
"knowledge",
"knowledge"
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[
"usually",
"usually"
],
[
"in order to",
"in order to"
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[
"avoid",
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[
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"responsibility"
],
[
"gain",
"gain"
],
[
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"advantage"
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],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) To pretend to be dumb, either:",
"To feign stupidity or ignorance of some knowledge, usually in order to avoid responsibility or gain some advantage."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "play stupid"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"audio": "En-au-play dumb.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/3/38/En-au-play_dumb.ogg/En-au-play_dumb.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/En-au-play_dumb.ogg"
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],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to pretend to be mute",
"word": "esittää mykkää"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be mute",
"word": "Stummheit vortäuschen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be mute",
"word": "vorgeben stumm zu sein"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fer l'orni"
},
{
"code": "ca",
"lang": "Catalan",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fer el desentès"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "van den domme houden"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "esittää tyhmää"
},
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "faire l’innocent"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "sich dumm stellen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "(einen) auf dumm machen"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fare lo gnorri"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fare l'innocente"
},
{
"code": "it",
"lang": "Italian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fare il finto tonto"
},
{
"code": "mk",
"lang": "Macedonian",
"roman": "se pravi naudren",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "се прави наудрен"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "udawać Greka"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"perfective"
],
"word": "udać Greka"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "fazer-se de tonto"
},
{
"code": "ro",
"lang": "Romanian",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "face pe prostul"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "pridúrivatʹsja",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"imperfective"
],
"word": "приду́риваться"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "hacerse el sueco"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "hacerse el longuis"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"tags": [
"Colombia"
],
"word": "hacerse el/la de las gafas"
},
{
"code": "sv",
"lang": "Swedish",
"sense": "to pretend to be slow-witted",
"word": "spela dum"
}
],
"word": "play dumb"
}
Download raw JSONL data for play dumb meaning in English (6.1kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). 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.