played (upon)

verb

past tense of play (upon)
as in exploited
to control or take advantage of by artful, unfair, or insidious means played upon the customer's vanity to convince her to buy the expensive makeup kit

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for played (upon)
  1. exploited
  2. manipulated
Verb
  • OpenAI reported that the agents used unauthorized communication channels, exploited vulnerabilities and engaged in reward hacking.
    — Babajide Ojuola, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Rogers’ indiscretion was later exploited by online blackmail scammers, ultimately leading to his downfall.
    — Eamon Javers, CNBC, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of exploited
Verb
  • The senses of anyone entering these tombs were heavily manipulated.
    — Jacqueline Ortoleva, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Researcher Peter Garrigan told Fox News Moonshot AI's Kimi model could also be manipulated to provide information on planning terrorist attacks using real-time data, creating sarin gas, developing malware and taking down aircraft.
    — Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of manipulated
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

played up
played (upon)
played (with)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Played (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/played%20%28upon%29. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All