0%

playact

play·act
P p

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [pley-akt]
    • /ˈpleɪˌækt/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [pley-akt]
    • /ˈpleɪˌækt/

Definitions of playact word

  • verb without object playact to engage in make-believe. 1
  • verb without object playact to be insincere or affected in speech, manner, etc.: It's hard to get away with playacting with members of one's own family. 1
  • verb without object playact to perform in a play. 1
  • verb with object playact to dramatize (something): They playacted the movements of a burglar. 1
  • intransitive verb playact If someone is playacting, they are pretending to have attitudes or feelings that they do not really have. 0
  • intransitive verb playact to act in a play 0

Information block about the term

Origin of playact

First appearance:

before 1895
One of the 18% newest English words
1895-1900; back formation from playacting; see play, act, -ing1

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Playact

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

playact popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 62% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data most of word are more popular. This word is almost not used. It has a much more popular synonym.

playact usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for playact

verb playact

  • act out — If you act out an event which has happened, you copy the actions which took place and make them into a play.
  • affect — If something affects a person or thing, it influences them or causes them to change in some way.
  • bring down the house — to receive enthusiastic applause from the audience

Antonyms for playact

verb playact

  • idle — not working or active; unemployed; doing nothing: idle workers.

See also

Matching words

Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?