play at

phrasal verb

played at; playing at; plays at

: to do (something) in a way that is not serious

They were only playing at trying to fix the problem.

chiefly British : to play by pretending to be (someone or something)

She liked to play at doctors and nurses as a child.

—often used in the phrase play at being (something)

boys playing at being soldiers

British

—used to say in an annoyed way that one does not know the reason for someone's behavior

What is he playing at?

Examples of play at in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Bears, who are members of the ASUN Conference, were 9-23 and 5-11 in conference play last season under then-coach Anthony Boone, who played at Ole Miss. —

Bob Holt, arkansasonline.com, 22 June 2024 Some hitherto unseen footage from the film was played at the event, which also featured drummers and an a capella rendition of the theme song. —

Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 20 June 2024 On Wednesday, the Mystics announced their season-ending game against Indiana on Sept. 19 will be played at Capital One Arena. —

Kareem Copeland, Washington Post, 20 June 2024 Fray — who played at right back vs. the Crew instead of in his usual centerback spot — had not featured for the South Florida side since suffering his third ACL tear in as many years in the 2023 Leagues Cup match vs. Cruz Azul last July that marked the memorable Inter Miami debut of Messi. —

Franco Panizo, Miami Herald, 20 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for play at

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'play at.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.