role-play

or role·play

[ rohl-pley ]

verb (used with object)

1. to assume the attitudes, actions, and discourse of (another), especially in a make-believe situation in an effort to understand a differing point of view or social interaction:

   Management trainees were given a chance to role-play labor negotiators.

2. to experiment with or experience (a situation or viewpoint) by playing a role in a make-believe scenario:

   My therapist and I role-played ending a relationship—an important life skill.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in role-playing.

noun

1. the act or technique of role-playing, or an instance of this:

   We often use role-play to help new immigrants learn English.

   In my nursing class we had to prepare a role-play about a dementia patient and her caregiver.

Word History and Origins

Origin of role-play¹

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

In the suite, he says Mr Jeffries' assistants began engaging in role-play, encouraging him to act as a shirtless greeter, a hallmark of A&F stores at the time.

From BBC

Each role-play exercise consisted of several rounds, in which the players representing the Trump team would begin by announcing their goals and the steps they intended to take to implement those goals—from rounding up millions of undocumented citizens to imprisoning their political enemies, from ordering active-duty military troops into American cities to replacing all civil servants who refused to follow their orders.

From Salon

Players role-play as content creators venturing to abandoned factories and spectral ships to record murderous monsters.

From New York Times

As a child, I was drawn to The Sims as a role-play for adulthood, a world of expansive promise and possibility; playing For Rent, I was reminded, depressingly, of how the game is rigged.

From Slate

Before the introduction of VR, students would sit in a classroom and go through possible scenarios using role-play techniques.

From BBC