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

Tudor said he frequently works with Dixon, who is also the brother-in-law of ex-Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, and gave him another hug before their 3-2 win over Atletico Madrid in midweek to make light of it.

From BBC

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

Not to make light of any teen’s emotional injury, but will dating sites now be held liable for broken hearts?

From The Wall Street Journal

"The relevant enterprises must accordingly take social responsibility and not make light of the heavy weight of history in the name of entertainment."

From BBC

"It's obviously in bad taste, but if Linden wants to make light of the situation, that's down to her."

From BBC

Related Words

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