underplay
Americanverb (used with object)
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to act (a part) sketchily.
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to act subtly and restrainedly.
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to understate or de-emphasize; downplay.
The ambassador underplayed his role in the peace negotiations.
verb (used without object)
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to leave out of one's acting all subtlety and enriching detail.
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to achieve an effect in acting with a minimum of emphasis.
verb
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to play (a role) with restraint or subtlety
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to achieve (an effect) by deliberate lack of emphasis
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(intr) cards to lead or follow suit with a lower card when holding a higher one
Etymology
Origin of underplay
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.
To say Kerr and his squad have taken a comprehensive approach to making history would be to underplay the level of detail involved in "winning our one per cents".
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Some researchers say current guidelines underplay the risks of transmission, though most still expect the outbreak to be contained.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 16, 2026
By endeavoring to tell the entire history of art, as far as their collections allow, they sometimes underplay a concentration within their holdings that makes them distinctive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 17, 2026
They don’t want to underplay the dangers, but they also don’t want to discourage someone from pursuing what, for them, has become a passion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025
“In low-power distance index countries,” Hofstede wrote in his classic text Culture’s Consequences: power is something of which power holders are almost ashamed and they will try to underplay.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
