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 government initially played down the affair to cover for the real political culprits," Koukakis told AFP in an interview a few months ago.
From Barron's
India also played down the US role in ending its brief conflict with Pakistan.
From BBC
But if managers rely too heavily on AI, he says, there is a danger of playing down or drowning out other legitimate feedback.
Aston Martin were already playing down expectations when they had their official team launch in early February, emphasising the project would need time to become successful.
From BBC
Executives also play down the risks of disruption.
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.
