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Glite Dictionary
to play on fears

to play on fears

5 7.4
Use people's fears to make them do what you want
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : explotar miedos
  • Here is the essence of it: Virus companies are playing on your fears to try to sell you BS protection software for Android, RIM, and iOS.
  • play on people's fears
  • play on racial fears
  • playing on economic fears

And hoovering can play on all of that fear after a break from the narcissist.

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Examples

  • Create fear and false validity in your testing method and then play on that fear to get folks to give you $50.

    Blog text (32)

  • There's nothing wrong with playing on these fears.

    Blog text (14)

  • Plus, it played on my personal fears perfectly.

    Blog text (24)

  • And hoovering can play on all of that fear after a break from the narcissist.

    DoctorRamani

  • Republicans play on fear.

    Blog text (14)

  • They may relegate us to a weak category and play on our fears.

    Blog text (10)

  • Political parties, especially those home to nationalists and communists, have played on Czech fears that their government would allow Sudeten Germans to reclaim their property as part of the right to resettle.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The politician is known to play on fears about crime to gain public support.

  • Many advertisements play on fears of missing out on the latest trends to encourage purchases.

  • The documentary plays on fears of climate change to motivate viewers to take action.

Synonyms

to scare
vsto play on fears
∞ 1.0

To make someone feel afraid or unsure of themselves

involves exploiting such worry to gain advantage rather than merely causing it
to frighten
vsto play on fears
540 1.0

To make someone feel afraid

aims to use that alarm to influence behavior rather than only startling someone
to intimidate
vsto play on fears
294 4.9

To frighten someone so they do what you want

is about manipulating worries to gain influence rather than direct threats
to fearmonger
vsto play on fears
1 8.4

To make people feel afraid on purpose to change what they think or do

focuses more on using those worries for personal gain rather than only spreading alarm
to prey on fears
vsto play on fears
1 7.4

To use people's fears to get money or power

has the same sense but is a different expression in wording

Antonyms

to comfort
172 1.0

To make someone feel less upset or in pain

to reassure
163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Manipulative

to terrorize
  • NSFW
145 6.7
to incite
  • NSFW
72 7.7
to play on fears
5 7.4

Surface Forms

play on fears infinitive
played on fears past
played on fears past participle
playing on fears present participle
plays on fears third person singular

Morphology

play + on + fear

The meaning is largely built from the parts — 'play' (to manipulate) + 'on' (targeting) + 'fears' — so a learner can partly infer that someone is using fears. However, the phrasal pattern 'play on' meaning 'exploit (an emotion)' is somewhat metaphorical and idiomatic, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal senses may not fully predict the pragmatic sense without prior exposure.

Etymology

The phrase play on fears gives the image of someone plays on people's worries like a musical instrument or a puppet, pulling the right 'strings' to make them react. That's why it means 'to use people's fears to get support or make them act in a certain way'.