interplay
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of interplay
Explanation
Interplay is a kind of back-and-forth interaction in which each side affects the other. A beautiful piece of music has the perfect interplay between melody, rhythm, and harmony. You can think of interplay as if you're watching an actual play on a stage: the way two characters communicate, whether they're cooperating or clashing with each other, is a kind of interplay. This word is often used in a less concrete way, so you might hear a sociologist talk about the interplay between race and class or a film critic discuss the interplay between violence and comedy in a movie.
Vocabulary lists containing interplay
"Simplexity" by Jeffrey Kluger
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
A Hero's Guide to Summer Vacation
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"Why Read Shakespeare?" by Michael Mack
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The observation of multiple symmetry-protected nodal lines in a simple elemental ferromagnet is therefore highly unexpected and establishes cobalt as a model system for studying the interplay between topology and magnetism."
From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2026
It leads to this interplay between the shadow docket and the merits docket.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2026
Nathalie Nahai, who writes books and lectures on the interplay of psychology, technology and business, says the resurgence of mascots coincides with growing mistrust in some big tech firms.
From BBC ● May 13, 2026
The credits list well over a dozen instruments, but there’s never a sense of a band—almost no interplay or individual parts that command attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
Bailey notes his place in the middle of an article that is comparing the interplay of light and shadow in a particular tent to Indonesian puppet theater before putting the book down.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
"The goal is eventually to even study the interplays of different signaling pathways simultaneously."
From Science Daily ● Apr. 23, 2024
From utilitarian details that ground regal aesthetics in the contemporary to surreal interplays of form and texture, the collections celebrated the industry’s ability to innovate while honoring its past.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
The design reflects the traditional hand-crafted bowls found across the Arab and Islamic world while interplays of light mirror the fanar lanterns of the region.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2022
These interplays between basketball and hip-hop reflect Kleiman’s professional roots as a music manager and executive, and they reinforce the film’s main argument: New York City point guards set trends that have since gone global.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2022
There are subtle interplays of delicate forces and reactions from environment which no one can measure.
From Our Foreigners A Chronicle of Americans in the Making by Orth, Samuel Peter
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.