idiom · informal
play hard to get
UK/pleɪ hɑːd tə ɡɛt/US/pleɪ hɑrd tə ɡɛt/PLAY HARD to GET
to pretend to be less interested in someone to make them try harder to get your attention
Examples
“She played hard to get, and he spent weeks trying to win her over.”
“If you play hard to get, some people will invest more effort.”
“He was obviously playing hard to get when he ignored my messages.”
Band 8 sentence
“In modern dating culture some people deliberately play hard to get as part of their flirting strategy, but it can backfire if the other person loses interest.”
Collocations
- play hard to get with someone
- keep playing hard to get
Word family
Common mistakes
He plays hard to get me.→He plays hard to get (with me).
She play hard to get.→She plays hard to get.
Say it for a higher band
5act uninterested→6play coy→7+play hard to get
Synonyms
play coy
Easily confused
lead someone on
“She led him on for months without intending to commit.”
Related words
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In Relationships
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