Roleplay, Role-Play, or Role Play?

[drquestion]

IMO, 'roleplaying' is appropriate when referring to RPGs. It seems to have become the common usage within the industry, and I see no reason not to follow it.

'Role-playing', on the other hand, is the standard usage in more mainstream publications, but covers a wider variety of activities (educational or erotic role-playing, for example).

In short, D&D is roleplaying, while a scenario in which one student pretends to try to sell drugs to another for an anti-substance abuse program is role-playing.

drquestion

 

[Faraer]

As Jim Butler says -- and speaking as a copyeditor -- 'roleplay' has long been naturalized into both British and US English. This is just an instance when the dictionaries (even The New Oxford American Dictionary) are lagging.

 

[BenBrown]

I vary between "roleplay" and "role-play" using the latter more often. Usually, though, I just write "RP".

 

[haiiro]

Roleplay has always looked and sounded best to me -- role play and role-play seem a bit stilted.

I don't mind that roleplay doesn't technically lend itself to begin shortened to RP. I think it works just fine.