Meaning
To act cautiously and avoid unnecessary risk; to choose the prudent, low-risk option instead of gambling on a better but less certain outcome. Common in advice, sport, finance and everyday planning, and often contrasted with taking a chance or going for broke. Play safe, without the it, is slightly more common in British English. The phrase pairs naturally with rather than take a chance and sits near the proverb better safe than sorry. Regional use: American English in origin; play safe is the usual British form.
Origin
At bottom this is the ancient verb play - Old English, whose sport and gaming senses are as old as the word itself - applied to risk: to play safe is to bet on the cautious option. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms dates play it safe, also play safe, to about 1900 and glosses it as avoiding extreme risks, with a gambling-flavoured example: I played it safe and bet only a dollar. The OED files to play safe under its play verb entry, though the phrase-level date sits behind the subscription wall, so the circa-1900 dating rests on Ammer. No verified nineteenth-century antedate surfaced in this research; the phrase is best described as American English of around 1900, at home in games, sport and betting coverage.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- play safe
- playing it safe
Usage Examples
- We played it safe and booked the earlier train in case of delays.
- Rather than argue the call, the lawyer advised her client to play it safe and settle.
- I would play it safe and take an umbrella - the forecast keeps changing.