Library / English Dictionary

DOWNPLAY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Understate the importance or quality of

Example:

he played down his royal ancestry

Synonyms:

background; downplay; play down

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "downplay" is one way to...):

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress (to stress, single out as important)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "downplay"):

wave off (dismiss as insignificant)

soft-pedal (play down or obscure)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Represent as less significant or important

Synonyms:

downplay; minimise; minimize; understate

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "downplay" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "downplay"):

trivialise; trivialize (make trivial or insignificant)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

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