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.
But Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni, who had attempted to calm down the situation, appeared to play down the incidents in his post-match interview.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Like Prime Minister Mark Carney did last month, Wiseman tried Tuesday to play down any conflict with the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 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
Trump, who initially sought to play down the incident, decided to retaliate after meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
For a child of Aphrodite, Piper tried hard to play down her beauty.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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.
