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dumb down

British  

verb

  1. (tr) to make or become less intellectually demanding or sophisticated

    attempts to dumb down news coverage

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

“He could dumb down the important things,” she said, “so that we would leave the church service or leave the lecture taking something with us.”

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 9, 2025

"I don't think we should try to dumb down golf to appeal to more people," he said.

From BBC Jan. 28, 2025

This might sound rough, but it’s how I feel: Whoever decided to dumb down the audience did a really good job.

From Seattle Times Aug. 30, 2023

In a lot of ways memes dumb down stuff, but conceptually I love what they have brought to our lives.

From New York Times Mar. 31, 2020

I wondered if she was ignoring my question or simply weighing how best to dumb down the answer.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

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