How to Use outplay in a Sentence

outplay

verb
  • Can the Bulls outplay their lack of size?
    — Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
  • You got outplayed in all facets of the game to lose the series.
    — Ticked Off, The Orlando Sentinel, 9 May 2026
  • Hicks hasn’t been bad, but he’s been outplayed by teammates.
    — Sam McDowell 7, Kansas City Star, 7 Nov. 2025
  • Hawes has outplayed Knox by quite a bit to begin the year.
    — Joe Buscaglia, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
  • But though in two games, Anaheim has outplayed them.
    — Eric Stephens, New York Times, 7 May 2026
  • They were just getting outplayed.
    — Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
  • But Johnson has been outplayed in camp.
    — Zac Jackson, New York Times, 19 Aug. 2025
  • And Nix has outplayed him in two of their three career matchups.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 20 Dec. 2025
  • Rai simply outplayed the strongest field in golf and won it.
    — ABC News, 17 May 2026
  • They were outplayed and outcoached by a 1-4 team.
    — The Athletic Nfl Staff, New York Times, 10 Oct. 2025
  • UConn outplayed the Illini for much of the night.
    — Sean Hammond, Chicago Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
  • The week before we were completely outplayed by them in the first leg.
    — James Pearce, New York Times, 21 May 2025
  • His task is to outplay Maye by having fewer sacks and turnovers.
    — Troy Renck, Denver Post, 24 Jan. 2026
  • The Wolves were outplayed early, then in the middle and again late.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 7 May 2026
  • The Horns outplayed a good basketball team down the stretch.
    — Cedric Golden, Austin American Statesman, 26 Jan. 2026
  • If your tank is getting countered or outplayed — there’s often not a lot left to do.
    — Richard Lawler, The Verge, 25 July 2024
  • They were bullied and outplayed that day, but appeared to have learned their lesson.
    — Steve Douglas, ajc, 7 May 2023
  • The Yankees have been outplayed across the board in the first two games of the series.
    — Julio Cesar Valdera Morales, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
  • The second unit has been outplaying the first at times, granted.
    — Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 7 Feb. 2018
  • The Valkyries were thoroughly outplayed in the first half.
    — Nathan Canilao, Mercury News, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Anaheim was outplayed in every facet.
    — Eric Stephens, New York Times, 15 May 2026
  • But football is a team game, and the guys who were on the field were badly outplayed by the league's last-place team.
    — Ken Goe, OregonLive.com, 2 Nov. 2017
  • Allen outplayed Mahomes in one playoff loss.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Jan. 2026
  • But the facts are that Texas outplayed Alabama on both sides of the ball.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas News, 10 Sep. 2023
  • On Sunday, the Bears were outplayed from tipoff until the end.
    — Michael Haag, Dallas News, 19 Mar. 2023
  • Even the smallest countries are getting a chance to outplay the Brits.
    — Washington Post, 18 Sep. 2019
  • Carter Hart has outplayed Wedgewood through the first three games of this series.
    — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 25 May 2026
  • Yet piece by piece, Hans was now outplaying the world champion.
    — Ben Mezrich, Vanity Fair, 6 Apr. 2026
  • In fact, the younger Penguins very much outplayed their older teammates.
    — Josh Yohe, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Mascherano conceded that his team was outplayed in the first half.
    — Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald, 1 Sep. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'outplay.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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