playing favorites
Showing unfair preference
Playing favorites is showing preferential treatment to certain people over others, especially when fairness or impartiality is expected: The boss was clearly playing favorites when she gave her friend the promotion.
The phrase implies unfairness—a teacher playing favorites grades some students more leniently, a parent playing favorites spoils one child while neglecting another.
Unfair favor toward some
- one-sidednessImbalanced viewpoint or treatment
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- partisanshipLoyalty to one faction
- subjectivityPersonal viewpoint coloring perception
unfairness · skewed · slanted · uneven · lopsided · jaundiced · colored · selective
Preferring kin in hiring
- cronyismFavoring friends in appointments
- preferential treatmentAdvantages given selectively
- teacher's petFavored student
- golden childFamily's most favored member
apple of the eye · blue-eyed boy · fair-haired child · privileged · chosen one · darling · pet · spoiled
Favoring friends in appointments
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
- backroom dealsSecret unofficial negotiations
- riggedFraudulently arranged beforehand
- fixedRestored or immovable
insider · quid pro quo · old boys' club · palm-greasing · kickbacks · conflicts of interest · self-dealing · graft
Being barred from participation
- inequityUnfair distribution or treatment
- unequal treatmentInconsistent handling of people
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
- in-crowdFashionable exclusive group
clique · outcast · snubbed · overlooked · passed over · shut out · left out · sidelined
partiality
Unfair favor toward some
- one-sidednessImbalanced viewpoint or treatment
- prejudicePreformed unfavorable opinion
- partisanshipLoyalty to one faction
subjectivity · unfairness · skewed · slanted · uneven · lopsided · jaundiced · colored · selective · unbalanced
nepotism
Preferring kin in hiring
- cronyismFavoring friends in appointments
- preferential treatmentAdvantages given selectively
- teacher's petFavored student
golden child · apple of the eye · blue-eyed boy · fair-haired child · privileged · chosen one · darling · pet · spoiled · front-runner
cronyism
Favoring friends in appointments
- patronageSupporter's financial backing
- backroom dealsSecret unofficial negotiations
- riggedFraudulently arranged beforehand
fixed · insider · quid pro quo · old boys' club · palm-greasing · kickbacks · conflicts of interest · self-dealing · graft · unethical
exclusion
Being barred from participation
- inequityUnfair distribution or treatment
- unequal treatmentInconsistent handling of people
- marginalizationRelegation to powerless periphery
in-crowd · clique · outcast · snubbed · overlooked · passed over · shut out · left out · sidelined · blackballed
- teaching mistakesunclear instructions, lack of feedback, public shaming, losing control, impatience
- favoritismfavoritism, nepotism, cronyism, partiality, preferential treatment
- sycophancyfawning, toadying, groveling, kowtowing, brown-nosing
playing favoritesfairness
Just and equal treatment
even-handedness · equal treatment · impartiality · meritocracy · level playing field
play, playing, plays, played, player, players, playful, playfully, playfulness