Analysis Complete

play up

/ play up /
verb

Definitions & Examples

verb Sense 1
move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent
"The introduction highlighted the speaker''s distinguished career in linguistics"
Opposites:
background play down downplay
Type of:
bring out set off
Derived:
limelight spotlight glare public eye highlighter
Usage Patterns:
Somebody ----s somebody into V-ing something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
verb Sense 2
ingratiate oneself to; often with insincere behavior
"She is playing up to the chairman"
Type of:
ingratiate
Usage Patterns:
Somebody ----s something with something
Semantic Complexity
39%
Sense Count
2
Total Synonyms
0
Total Relationships
11
Times Searched
3
Relationship Distribution

Word Relationship Graph

Synonyms Antonyms Hypernyms Hyponyms

Related Words

bring out set off background play down downplay ingratiate