playactor vs thespian

playactor and thespian both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
playactor	Yes	No	No	No
thespian	Yes	Yes	No	No

As nouns, thespian is a hypernym of playactor; that is, thespian is a word with a broader meaning than playactor:

Other hypernyms of playactor include actor, histrion, player, role player.

playactor (noun)	thespian (noun)
an actor who travels around the country presenting plays	a theatrical performer

playactor (adjective)	thespian (adjective)
	of or relating to drama