EN

Synonyms for play up

  • verb

Most common

stretch overstate overemphasize suck up shine up highlight act up

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Big up — to make or attempt to make something appear more important, likely, or obvious; to showcase or highlight

stretch, overstate, overemphasize, overemphasise UK, big up slang

2. Suck up

suck up, shine up, cozy up

3. Highlight

highlight, spotlight, foreground

Other

act up

Antonyms

play down, underestimate, belittle

All antonyms of play up →

Definitions

  1. v. 1

    To make or attempt to make something appear more important, likely, or obvious; to showcase or highlight.

    For the audition, Nicole will play up her skill as a pianist by playing Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring by Bach.

  2. v. 2

    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see play, up.

    Our school team is playing up at the old recreation ground.

  3. v. 3

    To misbehave.

    The radar system is playing up again.

Example sentences

  • stretch My friend got to ride a stretch limousine to prom!
  • overstate The importance of this topic is hard to overstate.
  • overemphasize It is impossible to overemphasize its importance.
  • highlight For Tom, this moment was the highlight of the day.

By length

7 letters
stretch1
9 letters
highlight2, spotlight2, overstate3
10 letters
foreground2
13 letters
overemphasize5, overemphasise

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (highlight2 = 2 syllables).