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.
The WHO and the Spanish government have been at pains to play down epidemiological comparisons between the current situation and the Covid pandemic.
From BBC • May 8, 2026
Rubio, a devout Catholic, sought to play down the rift ahead of the private audience, which will be followed by talks with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
From Barron's • May 7, 2026
Managers of KKR sought to play down turmoil engulfing private-markets firms, as the New York firm beat analysts’ quarterly earnings forecasts.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026
On Monday, Sir Keir sought to play down any sense of a rift with the civil service when he told MPs: "We have thousands of civil servants who act with integrity and professionalism every day."
From BBC • Apr. 22, 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.
