Meanings
present singular third person plays possum · participle present playing possum · participle past played possum · past played possum
- idiomaticTo feign death; to remain quiet and still to escape attention or remain undetected; to lie low.
The soldier played possum, fooling the sniper.
4 more examples
Thinking fast, we played possum, hoping the bear wouldn't bother us.
To keep the focus away from his client, the lawyer basically played possum during the entire complex trial, and his tactic paid off with an acquittal.
What happened to Job after that I am sure I do not know, but my own impression is that he lay still upon the corpse of his deceased assailant, "playing 'possum" as the Americans say.
1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLCI woke myself up in the early hours, put on my dressing gown, and let myself into the dim corridor. (My door had been left unlocked since I began playing possum.) No sound but snores and plumbing.
2004, David Mitchell, “The Ghastly Ordeal of Timothy Cavendish”, in Cloud Atlas, London: Sceptre (Hodder and Stoughton), →ISBN, page 363 - idiomaticTo feign sleep, illness, etc.
When we used to get home late at night, I would play possum so my daddy would carry me inside and put me in bed.
- datedidiomaticTo dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive.
Never imposing upon any one myself, I suffered no one to play the possum with me.
1840, Edgar Allan Poe, The Business Man3 more examples
Though, as it afterwards turned out, the Yankee had money enough about him, and was merely playing the ’possum all the while.
1833, Asa Greene, A Yankee Among the Nullifiers: An Auto-biography, page 32You have been holding-in all this while — possumus omnes, we all play the ’possum...
1858, James Russell Lowell, in a letter to O.W. Holmes, collected in The Complete Writings of... p31As none came with the coach from Deadwood, I suppose the amount of funds was insignificant. You can't tell, though, for the stage company is liable to play possum sometimes.
1881, Alexander Lovett Stimson, History of the Express Business, page 354
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From play + possum, from the behavior of the Virginia opossum, which feigns death when threatened. First use appears c. 1807.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish tekeytyä kuolleeksi
- tekeytyä kuolleeksito pretend to be dead; lie low
French faire le mort
- faire le mortto pretend to be dead; lie low
German sich tot stellen
- sich tot stellento pretend to be dead; lie low
Greek κάνω τον ψόφιο κοριό
- κάνω τον ψόφιο κοριό (káno ton psófio korió)to pretend to be dead; lie low
Hungarian halottnak tetteti magát, nem ad életjelet
- halottnak tetteti magátto pretend to be dead; lie low
- nem ad életjeletto pretend to be dead; lie low
- meglapulto pretend to be dead; lie low
- lapulto pretend to be dead; lie low
- lapítto pretend to be dead; lie low
- alvást színlelto feign sleep, illness, etc.
- megjátssza, hogy alszikto feign sleep, illness, etc.
- úgy tesz, mintha aludnato feign sleep, illness, etc.
- betegnek tetteti magátto feign sleep, illness, etc.
- betegséget színlelto feign sleep, illness, etc.
- tudatlanságot színlel(dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive
- úgy tesz, mintha semmiről nem tudna semmit(dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive
Italian fingersi morto
- fingersi mortoto pretend to be dead; lie low
Japanese 狸寝入りをする
- 狸寝入りをする (tanukineiri o suru)to feign sleep, illness, etc.
Korean 죽은 척 하다, 잠든 척 하다
- 죽은 척 하다 (jugeun cheok hada)to pretend to be dead; lie low
- 잠든 척 하다 (jamdeun cheok hada)to feign sleep, illness, etc.
Polish udawać trupa, udać trupa
- udawać trupato pretend to be dead; lie low
- udać trupato pretend to be dead; lie low
- symulowaćto feign sleep, illness, etc.
- udawać ignorancję(dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive
- udać ignorancję(dated in English) to dissemble or to feign ignorance; to disguise or conceal something in order to deceive
Portuguese fingir-se de morto, fazer-se de morto
- fingir-se de mortoto pretend to be dead; lie low
- fazer-se de mortoto pretend to be dead; lie low
Spanish hacerse el muerto
- hacerse el muertoto pretend to be dead; lie low
Swedish spela död, låtsassova
- spela dödto pretend to be dead; lie low
- låtsassovato feign sleep, illness, etc.
Cite this entry
play possum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20possum
“play possum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20possum. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “play possum,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/play%20possum.
Source: play possum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.