play off

Verb

play off (third-person singular simple present plays off, present participle playing off, simple past and past participle played off)

1. (often, transitive) To portray (something) (as unimportant); to dismiss or make light of (a factor in a situation, or one's embarrassment about it); to pretend not to be embarrassed, upset, impressed, or otherwise affected by (it).
   • After tripping, Sara tried to play her embarrassment off by laughing with everyone else.
   • Although he's obviously hungover, he's trying to play it off as food poisoning.
2. (transitive) To set (other people) against one another: to induce competition between them, especially in a covert way so that they do not realize the degree to which they have been played (manipulated).
   • Stalin's propensity to play off his subordinates against one another is a well-studied theme.
3. (intransitive, transitive) To compete in a play-off; to compete against (an opponent) in a play-off.
4. (dated, transitive) To display; to show; to put in exercise.
   • to play off tricks
   • “[A]n’ whin the anlooky brat had thim all in this way whirligiggin’ about the flure, he’d grin an’ he’d chuckle an’ he'd chather, jist fur all the world like Jocko, the monkey, whin he’s played off sum uv his roguery.”1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 524