play down
Britishverb
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Make little of, minimize the importance of, as in A skillful salesman plays down the drawbacks of the product and emphasizes its good features . [First half of 1900s]
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play down to . Lower one's standards to meet the demands of someone, as in Some stand-up comics deliberately play down to the vulgar taste of their audiences . [Late 1800s]
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.
Ngumoha will turn 18 next week and has preferred to play down the left throughout his youth career but failed to have an impact on the other side.
From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026
For years, Jordan sought to play down its close military and intelligence cooperation with the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Traders will be closely monitoring Warsh’s commentary to see if he decides to play down the risk that sharper inflation could pressure the central bank to hike rates, Cboe’s Kinahan said.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 15, 2026
SoftBank executives play down the risks of the financing deals, noting the sums are small in the context of a company with hundreds of billions of dollars in assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
When he was little, he used to play down here with Robb and Jon and his sisters.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
