put a dampener on

idiom

British

: to make (something) less strong, active, or exciting

His bad mood put a dampener on the celebration.

Examples of put a dampener on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But China’s meteorologists are worried that bad winter weather could put a dampener on holiday travels this year. —Lionel Lim, Fortune Asia, 29 Jan. 2024

But extreme weather has put a dampener on festivities and scouts are now leaving the main venue almost a week ahead of schedule. —Gawon Bae, CNN, 7 Aug. 2023

The likes of India and China watering down the global commitment to reducing coal generation put a dampener on the conference’s outcomes. —Jonquil Hackenberg, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2021

Regulators in China put a dampener on investors' high hopes for Chinese companies' new AI chatbots, proposing new rules for the burgeoning sector on Tuesday. —Weilun Soon, WSJ, 11 Apr. 2023

Ending cash bail could put a dampener on the ability of judges to make informed decisions about defendants. —Justin Klawans, The Week, 30 Mar. 2023

Panels were packed, dinners were back and even a garbage collection strike and wet weather couldn’t put a dampener on proceedings as producers, commissioners, executives and talent reunited under one roof to take stock of the industry. —K.j. Yossman, Variety, 26 Aug. 2022

Elon Musk did this by launching the Cybertruck to put a dampener on Rivian, Mark Zuckerburg did it by purchasing Instagram. —Jodie Cook, Forbes, 25 July 2022

Anti-government protests have put a dampener on French tourism before: In 2018 hotel bookings in Paris dropped by 10% as the country dealt with the Gilets Jaunes, or Yellow Vest, movement. —Courtney Vinopal, Quartz, 14 Feb. 2022