played possum
Pretended to sleep
To play possum is to feign death or unconsciousness, as opossums do when threatened.
More broadly, it means pretending to be asleep, unaware, or inactive to avoid confrontation or deceive others: He played possum when his wife came home, hoping she'd think he was asleep.
The past tense appears in contexts where someone successfully pulled off the act: The suspect played possum until the officers left.
- lying lowRemaining unnoticed deliberately
- dead to the worldDeeply, unrousably asleep
- keeping a low profileAvoiding notice deliberately
- avoidanceDeliberate keeping away
- pretendingSimulating what isn't real
freezing · faking it · bluffing · shamming · evasion · self-preservation · passive resistance · flying under the radar · gone to ground · holding still · deception · denial · head in the sand · looking the other way · biding time · fleeing · faking · strategic retreat
played possumstood one's ground
Refused to back down
fought back · came out swinging · put up a fight · took the bull by the horns · faced the music
play, played, playing, plays, player, players, playful, playfully, playfulness