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

See Examples For:

make light of

The internal investigation did not determine whether employees had intentionally planned to make light of the uprising.

From Barron's ● May 26, 2026

Che was made to make light of molestation claims against Michael Jackson.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026

The team was able to make light of the mishap.

From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2026

It’s frustrating that our leaders have used social media to make light of a very serious issue that affects people’s lives.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make light of what you’ve been through.”

From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth

Related Words

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