downplay

verb

down·​play ˈdau̇n-ˌplā How to pronounce downplay (audio)
downplayed; downplaying; downplays
Synonyms of downplaynext

Examples of downplay in a Sentence

Athletes often downplay their injuries. he self-deprecatingly downplays his own contributions to the festival's success
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Marrazzo claimed Memoli made statements downplaying the importance of vaccines that closely mirrored the views of Kennedy, who has a long history of sowing doubts about vaccines. Michael Kaplan, CBS News, 17 Dec. 2025 When Russia launched drones into Poland in September 2025, Trump downplayed it as a possible mistake, and when Russia violated Romanian and Estonian airspace that same month, the United States largely sat out NATO’s military response. Philip H. Gordon, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025 Ryabkov was among those Russian officials downplaying the threat looming over Ukraine in the lead up to Moscow's full-scale invasion of its neighbor. Ian Pannell, ABC News, 15 Dec. 2025 Altman downplayed the threat from Google, telling CNBC that Gemini had less of an impact on the company’s metrics than OpenAI initially feared. Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 12 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for downplay

Word History

First Known Use

1948, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of downplay was in 1948

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Downplay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/downplay. Accessed 17 Dec. 2025.

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