as in to minimize
to reduce in apparent importance
you're at a point in your career where you can de-emphasize your academic record and emphasize your work experience
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Recent Examples of de-emphasize
The changes have included an overhaul of Google’s ubiquitous search engine that has de-emphasized a listing of relevant web links in its results and increasingly highlighted AI overviews and conversational responses provided through an AI mode.
—
Michael Liedtke, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025
The base Microsoft 365 subscription itself has become increasingly essential as Microsoft de-emphasizes standalone Office purchases and makes cloud integration more central to document workflows.
—Kevin Williams, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2025
To carry out her vision, McMahon has brought on at least 20 political appointees from ultraconservative think tanks and advocacy groups eager to de-emphasize public schools, which have educated students for roughly 200 years.
—Megan O’Matz, ProPublica, 8 Oct. 2025
Atmos Rewards functions as a third front door to Alaska/Hawaiian, intentionally de-emphasizing airline branding to enable expansion across the broader travel ribbon.
—Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for de-emphasize
Michael Liedtke, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025
The base Microsoft 365 subscription itself has become increasingly essential as Microsoft de-emphasizes standalone Office purchases and makes cloud integration more central to document workflows.
—Kevin Williams, CNBC, 31 Oct. 2025
To carry out her vision, McMahon has brought on at least 20 political appointees from ultraconservative think tanks and advocacy groups eager to de-emphasize public schools, which have educated students for roughly 200 years.
—Megan O’Matz, ProPublica, 8 Oct. 2025
Atmos Rewards functions as a third front door to Alaska/Hawaiian, intentionally de-emphasizing airline branding to enable expansion across the broader travel ribbon.
—Jeff Fromm, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for de-emphasize
Recent Examples of Synonyms for de-emphasize
Verb
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This timing helps to minimize transplant shock and allows the roots to establish themselves before the summer heat sets in.—
SJ McShane,
Martha Stewart,
22 Feb. 2026
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The motor is suspended by multiple O-rings to minimize vibration.—
Robert Ross,
Robb Report,
22 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Cain and Schon have often been at odds in court in recent years, but the keyboard player downplayed that in the latest interview.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
20 Feb. 2026
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For their part, Wilmore and Williams routinely defended NASA's decision while downplaying their extended stay as being part of the job.—
Eric Lagatta,
USA Today,
20 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Marty Singer, attorney for the spouses at the time, dismissed the controversy.—
Alexandra Del Rosario,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Feb. 2026
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Yesterday, Judge Aran Subramanian dismissed some portions of the suit but allowed other claims to proceed in the DOJ’s efforts to break up Live Nation and Ticketmaster.—
Steven J. Horowitz,
Variety,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Whatever your preconceived notions about Feldman are, Hume’s film will expand and challenge them; the movie’s greatness lies in its ability to capture all of Feldman’s contradictions and self-destructiveness, empathizing with him without soft-pedaling his sins.—
Jim Hemphill,
IndieWire,
23 Jan. 2026
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But a communications strategy designed to soft-pedal radioactive contamination of food won’t make America healthy.—
Washington Post,
Washington Post,
22 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“De-emphasize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/de-emphasize. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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