| gen. |
to make something seem less important or less bad than it really is (The government has been trying to downplay the crisis.  cambridge.org); to make something seem less important than it really is (White House officials attempted to downplay the president’s role in the affair. ldoceonline.com • Also, in focusing on two-year institutions, I do not mean to downplay the role of four-year colleges and universities. • Grandma downplays the seriousness of her health problems. • Such stereotypic thinking forces even black stations to downplay their blackness in order to compete for the advertising dollars.); to deliberately make a situation seem less serious or important than it is (The senator is downplaying the significance of the issue. macmillandictionary.com); play down; make little of (transitive collinsdictionary.com); if you downplay a fact or feature, you try to make people think that it is less important or serious than it really is (The government is trying to downplay the violence. collinsdictionary.com • ...to downplay the dangers of nuclear accidents.); to represent as unimportant, insignificant, etc.; minimize; belittle. (thefreedictionary.com); play down, de-emphasize (Athletes often downplay their injuries. merriam-webster.com • He self-deprecatingly downplays his own contributions to the festival's success. • The Olympic champion, for his part, tried to downplay the controversy. • Trump and some his GOP allies have actively tried to downplay the violence that occurred on January 6.); make something appear less important than it really is (with object • This report downplays the seriousness of global warming. lexico.com • He captures some important changes, but downplays the constraints on choice. • The committee report downplays the importance of this episode. • But his coverage of the Wagner report greatly downplays the report's criticisms. • At others they have sought to discredit the report by suggesting it downplayed the actual extent of such connections. • He criticised him for downplaying the importance of public opinion about wanting to see universal suffrage in 2007. • The Times has been criticized for downplaying the strike by its own ombudsmen, as well as by actors and activists. • The Report repeatedly downplays the effects of violence on men. • I think it's very important, and I think it was downplayed at the beginning by the administration. • If a compliment did get thrown your way, you either accepted it silently or downplayed it until it sounded more like an insult. • I do not think we have ever, at any stage, downplayed the risk to children, but it is important that we do not overplay the risk to children. • It was extremely important, the lawyer had said, for her to downplay her looks as much as possible. • Even in the scene where he appears majestic, Ellison uses the comic to downplay his regality. • Characteristically aloof, she downplays the importance of literary awards, yet recognises the significance they hold for some individuals. • He downplays this problem, but I think a close look at the evidence reveals that he is stretching. • Jim downplays the loss; thankfully, he didn't sustain any bad physical injuries. • He also downplays the quality of early muskets, but that too ignores the same reality. • I think Gene is downplaying the tension between a culture dedicated to philosophy and a culture that has committed itself to getting a stable job. • In doing so he has challenged the role of landscape photography while furthering it, but at the price of downplaying the individual picture. • The sound engineers go way overboard layering the electronica over the instruments, downplaying the women's talents. • I mean, we're not downplaying the seriousness of what's gone on here.); to de-emphasize; to present or portray as less important or consequential (transitive • He would sometimes downplay his Princeton education by saying simply that he went to school in New Jersey. Usage notes: The synonymous alternative form play down is slightly more formal, or slightly less informal wiktionary.org) |
