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Play possum

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To pretend to be unaware, inactive, or incompetent to avoid responsibility; references the opossum's defensive behavior of feigning death when threatened by predators.

Detailed Definition
Play possum means to pretend to be asleep, dead, harmless, or unaware in order to deceive, avoid danger, or gain advantage. In poetry, the idiom can describe strategic passivity, childhood trickery, political survival, emotional withdrawal, or animal behaviour. The phrase is useful because it makes stillness active: not acting becomes a form of cunning. A poet may use it to explore self-protection, cowardice, patience, or resistance by concealment. It turns vulnerability into a possible tactic.
Example
Example in poetry:
A comic animal poem might show the fox playing possum until the hounds pass by; In a dramatic poem, a coward plays possum while braver friends face danger; The phrase means to pretend to be asleep, dead, or inactive to avoid trouble; A poet can use it for cunning or cowardice.
Additional Notes
Play possum means pretend to be asleep, dead, harmless, or unaware in order to avoid danger or gain advantage. The phrase comes from the opossum’s defensive behaviour. In poetry, it can describe survival, deception, childhood games, political caution, or emotional withdrawal. Students should notice that passivity may be strategic rather than weak. It pairs well with stillness, predators, breath, masks, and feigned innocence.
Also Known As
pretend
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