underplay
to act (a part) sketchily.
to act subtly and restrainedly.
to understate or de-emphasize; downplay: The ambassador underplayed his role in the peace negotiations.
to leave out of one's acting all subtlety and enriching detail.
to achieve an effect in acting with a minimum of emphasis.
Origin of underplay
1Words Nearby underplay
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use underplay in a sentence
The manufacturers’ websites underplayed the benefits of breastfeeding and overstated its challenges.
Breastfeeding Is Tough: New Research Shows How To Make It More Manageable | LGBTQ-Editor | October 19, 2021 | No Straight NewsThere were other considerations, and I don’t want to underplay the logistical challenges posed by the pandemic.
Philip Guston’s art speaks to our present moment. We shouldn’t have to wait to see it. | Sebastian Smee | January 14, 2021 | Washington PostOne of Smith's biggest internal challenges is a perception that he long underplayed the severity of the investigation — presenting it as a relatively minor accounting problem.
Billionaire philanthropist Robert Smith's tax fraud roils Vista Equity | Dan Primack | October 16, 2020 | AxiosI won’t underplay the depth and complexity of California’s challenges.
These statements mark a shift for public bodies that, for decades, have underplayed health research on social issues.
Racism used to be considered a US public health issue until Nixon interfered | Olivia Goldhill | August 1, 2020 | Quartz
What she did need to worry about was trying to underplay her book in view of the attention it drew.
Thank You, Elizabeth Wurtzel: ‘Prozac Nation’ Turns 20 | Nicolaus Mills | July 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTo say that this is an unusual moment would be to underplay how unique it really is.
Unknown forces are all the time engaged in a mystic underplay which is the real action of the piece.
August Strindberg, the Spirit of Revolt | L. (Lizzy) Lind-af-HagebyEspecially with a purple speech like that; you've simply got to learn to underplay.
My Fair Planet | Evelyn E. Smith
British Dictionary definitions for underplay
/ (ˌʌndəˈpleɪ) /
to play (a role) with restraint or subtlety
to achieve (an effect) by deliberate lack of emphasis
(intr) cards to lead or follow suit with a lower card when holding a higher one
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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