Play
Play verb - To engage in activity for amusement.
Usage example: told her son that he needed some time to run and play in the yard after his hard work
Struggle
Struggle verb - To devote serious and sustained effort.
Usage example: the financially strapped couple struggled to make ends meet
Nearby Words: struggled, struggling
How words are described
| good | good play | good struggle |
| long | long play | long struggle |
| short | short play | short struggle |
| popular | popular play | popular struggle |
| Other adjectives: entire, real, constant, big, great, serious, little, main, ancient, new, major, dramatic, final, classic, last, earlier, previous. | ||
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
- Only the cancer and healing factor don't play play nice together and their constant struggle winds up turning him into one handsome, crazy son of a hired gun.
Source: The Topic of Cancer -
Being Good Sucks: Because most characters in this story are involved in a no-holds-barred power struggle for political hegemony, chances are you have to play the game or you die.
Source: Manhua / Ravages Of Time - Victory Is Boring comes in play, the character wanting to struggle through hardships instead of getting what they want handed on a silver plate, so that their success feels meaningful.
Source: Plague of Good Fortune
Cite this Source
Struggle and Play. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 07, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/play/struggle
Play & Struggle. N.p., 2016. Web. 07 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/play/struggle>.
Struggle or Play. 2016. Accessed August 07, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/play/struggle.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "play" and "struggle" have occurred on timeline