make light of

Idioms  

1. Also, make little of. Treat as unimportant, as in He made light of his allergies, or She made little of the fact that she'd won. The first term, which uses light in the sense of “trivial,” was first recorded in William Tyndale's 1526 Bible translation (Matthew 22:5), in the parable of the wedding feast, where the invited guests reject the king's invitation: “They made light of it and went their ways.” The variant dates from the early 1800s. For an antonym, see make much of.

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Example Sentences

He said the Nazi regime was "the most barbaric ever, and I'd never make light of nor dilute its seriousness".

From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026

Kaufman stressed: "The defence does not disrespect the soul of any deceased person, nor does it make light of the loss of life."

From Barron's • Feb. 26, 2026

That’s not to make light of the interactive experience — which is among the most fun and inspiring activities for children at a local cultural institution — just to note that it’s a fun perk.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 14, 2026

X owner Elon Musk and other executives at xAI—the artificial intelligence company that now owns X Corporation—appeared to make light of the matter before acknowledging that they needed to “tighten our gaurdrails.”

From Slate • Jan. 6, 2026

There was much sense in your smile: it was very shrewd, and seemed to make light of your own abstraction.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Related Words

• curtail
• decrease
• diminish
• downplay
• lessen
• play down
• reduce
• trivialize
• underestimate