play down

British  

verb

1. (tr, adverb) to make little or light of; minimize the importance of

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play down Idioms  

1. 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]

2. 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]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

play down

The key to showing humility is to play down the compliment rather than amplify it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

A high-ranking Ethiopian federal army commander sought to play down the conflict in comments to AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

But it is hard not to conclude that, despite efforts to play down the drama, this is an embarrassing episode for the UK.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

Amodei told the other executives that it is important to be honest with the public about model capabilities and not play down risks, some of the people said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

But I held back because I wanted now to play down his theory.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

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Related Words

• belittle
• gloss over
• minimize
• mute
• soft pedal
• soften
• underplay

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