put it mildly

Idioms  

1. Understate, say without exaggeration, as in It's a fairly long way to walk, to put it mildly—twenty miles or so. [First half of 1900s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

put it mildly

And we have some great reads about movies that, to put it mildly, missed the mark: Supergirl is a “super-bummer,” according to Slate’s Dana Stevens.

From Slate ● Jun. 26, 2026

"It was terrifying, to put it mildly," says the group's head Iryna Didur.

From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026

Neither of those were great times to be buying stocks, to put it mildly.

From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026

But, to put it mildly, OpenAI doesn’t have the income to cover its costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025

Early researchers' figures were, to put it mildly, informally ascertained.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann