downplay
Americanverb (used with object)
-
downplays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
downplayed,
past participle, past
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downplaying
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
downplaysimple
-
downplayssimple
-
have downplayedperfect
-
has downplayedperfect
-
am downplayingprogressive
-
are downplayingprogressive
-
is downplayingprogressive
-
have been downplayingperfect progressive
-
has been downplayingperfect progressive
Past
-
downplayedsimple
-
had downplayedperfect
-
was downplayingprogressive
-
were downplayingprogressive
-
had been downplayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of downplay
Explanation
To downplay something is to act as if it's not very important. If you're trying to convince your friends to play poker with you, you might downplay the fact that you're an experienced and competitive player. Politicians who depend on contributions from oil and gas companies tend to downplay the environmental effects of their products, and a boy who wants a trampoline for his birthday might downplay the possible dangers when he talks to his parents about it. Downplay is a relatively recent addition to the English language, dating from the late 1960s.
Vocabulary lists containing downplay
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The death of a Russian lab technician triggers fears of a pneumonic plague outbreak, even as health officials downplay the risk.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Doing his best to downplay Minnesota’s victory, Gophers coach P.J.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
Preston refused, he said, not wanting to downplay his dad’s pain to keep up appearances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
Take this spring’s Michael Jackson biopic, a film that purged Jackson of all of his eccentricities in an attempt to downplay the allegations that clouded his late career.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
They try to keep smiling and downplay the hardship.
From "Native Speaker" by Chang-rae Lee
Constellation Brands signals weak demand for two flagship beer brands, while Intel rises after Elon Musk downplays TSMC’s role in Terafab.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Advertising that promises dramatic results or downplays the need for diet and exercise could be deemed misleading, officials said, stressing that such medicines should only be used under medical supervision.
From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026
And Attia largely downplays the risks of overtesting, which can lead to both false positives and the detection of markers that will never develop into life-threatening disease.
From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2026
The company created an eyewitness identification policy that wrongly downplays or misrepresents law enforcement’s obligations.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2024
Meanwhile, the Regional Homelessness Authority downplays the Point-in-Time count altogether, saying other, larger numbers more accurately reflect the scale of the issue.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 7, 2024
Oliver Stuenkel, a professor at the Getulio Vargas Foundation, downplayed the importance of ideology in regional relations as more "rhetorical than substantive."
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
“The data was presented in a way that downplayed the risk to deflect responsibility,” Dixon said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Filippi also claims he refused to comply with directives that he believed would put passengers in harm’s way and said that Kettle downplayed risks or dismissed them outright.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
For Kenyan geographer Kioko Muendo, this has implicitly downplayed Africa's vast resources, population and investment opportunities.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
For generations, American history books hid or downplayed the evils of slavery.
From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis
Asked if he was downplaying their concerns, he said: "No, we are not downplaying, but you know it's going to be more good than bad by a lot."
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
But Juan Carlos Venegas, a representative of the state’s avocado industry, said in an interview with Radio Fórmula that he believed Mexican authorities were downplaying the security threat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
However, he warned that the telecommunications industry is still downplaying the risk from satellite competitors, which in his view is a mistake.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026
“I think people are downplaying the significance of Nimbyism in this country right now,” Purohit said, adding that companies looking to sell this summer will be scrutinized for how they plan to handle it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
He keeps his face neutral, downplaying his feelings for my benefit.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
