roleplay

See also: rôleplay and role-play

English

Alternative forms

• rôleplay
• role-play

Etymology

From role (“expected behavior”) play (“perform, act”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈrəʊl.pleɪ/

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈrol.pleɪ/

Verb

roleplay (third-person singular simple present roleplays, present participle roleplaying, simple past and past participle roleplayed)

1. (intransitive) To act out a scenario or fantasy with another person or other people.

   To spice up their sex life, they like to roleplay.

2. (transitive) To act as a character as part of a fantasy, especially with a group.

   He likes to roleplay a vampire.

   • 2018 October 17, Drachinifel, 30:18 from the start, in Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 August 2022:

     The particular person roleplaying Beatty in that battle suggested summarily executing Seymour and dumping him overboard.

3. (transitive, intransitive, by extension) To act out a social role that one does not truly belong to.

   He talks like he's some scrappy bootstrap entrepreneur but he's just some old money rich kid roleplaying.

   • 1982 December 11, Catherine Joseph, “Breaking Barriers”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 21, page 10:

     Realizing that she was an 'other' not only as a black woman but also as a black lesbian, she struggles to fiind someplace where she and other black lesbians like herself could live out their existence without role-playing or conforming to the ideals that were prevalent in the bars at that time.

Coordinate terms

• (act out a social role): pass

Translations

To act as a character as part of a fantasy, especially with a group.

• French: rôler (fr)
• Spanish: rolear, simular (es), jugar a roles, actuar (es), dramatizar (es), teatralizar (es)

Noun

roleplay (countable and uncountable, plural roleplays)

1. The act or practice of roleplaying; an instance of roleplaying.
   • 1985 August 17, “Personal advertisement”, in Gay Community News, volume 13, number 6, page 13:

     Lesbian, 34, seeks lesbians who enjoy occasional anal sex and role plays. Light s/m ok too.

   • 2008 November 21, Graham Linehan, The IT Crowd, Season 3, Episode 1:

     Roy: Let's do some roleplay, OK? Do you think that would be a good idea?
     Moss: It helped me learn how to buy sandwiches.

2. The practice of roleplaying.

Synonyms

• RP

Translations

roleplaying game — see roleplaying game

See also

• RPG
• LARP
• roleplayer

Anagrams

• e-payroll, playlore