Audio English.net » Dictionary » P » Plausibly ... Pleasance

PLAY UP

Pronunciation (US):

• PLAY UP (verb)
The verb PLAY UP has 2 senses:

1. move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent
2. ingratiate oneself to; often with insincere behavior

Familiarity information: PLAY UP used as a verb is rare.

• PLAY UP (verb)

Sense 1

play up ^{[BACK TO TOP]}

Meaning:

Move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

foreground; highlight; play up; spotlight

Context examples:

The introduction highlighted the speaker's distinguished career in linguistics / highlight the passage so that you can find it again when you open the book

Hypernyms (to "play up" is one way to...):

bring out; set off (direct attention to, as if by means of contrast)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Antonym:

play down (understate the importance or quality of)

Sense 2

play up ^{[BACK TO TOP]}

Meaning:

Ingratiate oneself to; often with insincere behavior

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

sidle up; shine up; cozy up; cotton up; play up; suck up

Context example:

She is playing up to the chairman

Hypernyms (to "play up" is one way to...):

ingratiate (gain favor with somebody by deliberate efforts)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

"The start of a journey should never be mistaken for success."
(English proverb)
"Walls have mice, mice [have] ears."
(Afghanistan proverb)
"Your nose is a part of you even if it is ugly."
(Arabic proverb)
"If someone isn't handsome by nature, it's useless for them to wash over and over again."
(Corsican proverb)

What other visitors were searching for:

Meaning of play up
Terminology for advanced learners
What does play up mean?
British accent
Play up definition
Lookup word in AudioEnglish
Play up pronunciation in phonetic transcription

Page delivered in 0.1016 seconds