downplayed

verb

past tense of downplay
as in minimized
to reduce in apparent importance he self-deprecatingly downplays his own contributions to the festival's success

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of downplayed White has previously downplayed the prospect of entering politics himself. — Jackson Thompson Outkick, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2026 But McVay downplayed his own anticipation of seeing the group play together for the first time. — Adam Grosbard, Oc Register, 6 Nov. 2026 Musk has downplayed the sales slump at Tesla, focusing on the company’s future as a maker of autonomous vehicles and taxis. — Los Angeles Times, 5 Nov. 2026 Even New Jersey’s environmental officials downplayed the spill’s impact. — Robert Sullivan, New Yorker, 2 Nov. 2026 But in an unregulated commercial setting, such risks are more easily downplayed, which raises the ethical concerns, experts told STAT. — Megan Molteni, STAT, 2 Nov. 2026 When asked, local officials downplayed the federal investigation and conspiracy theorists. — Caleb Groves, AJC.com, 1 Nov. 2026 Earlier this week, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes downplayed an ESPN report that said he and coach Andy Reid last week had asked tackle Josh Simmons to leave a team meeting. — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 30 Oct. 2026 Cuomo downplayed the wave of objections, framing the pushback as a predictable reaction to a major market shift. — Camila Grigera Naón, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downplayed
  1. minimized
  2. dismissed
  3. de-emphasized
  4. soft-pedaled
Verb
  • Politicians listened to the rocket scientists who recommended the concept of a lunar orbit rendezvous because that concept minimized total launch mass.
    — Alex Pavlak, Baltimore Sun, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Singer minimized that position, arguing that Moskowitz would be unable to counter increasing skepticism among many other Democrats over the government’s conduct of the war in Gaza.
    — Anthony Man, Sun Sentinel, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of minimized
Verb
  • Women’s stories, especially those focused on their desires, have historically been dismissed as unserious, but romance has always had a huge, loyal readership.
    — Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2026
  • Five other felonies were dismissed by prosecutors as part of the plea agreement.
    — Logan Smith, CBS News, 7 Nov. 2026
Definition of dismissed
Verb
  • Our tactile and sensory life has been de-emphasized in favor of ideas, symbols, accomplishments, and abstractions.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 16 June 2026
  • 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
Definition of de-emphasized
Verb
  • In fact, several of the investigators believed the shooting was intentional, and that the Biden administration had actually soft-pedaled the investigation’s findings to appease Israel.
    — Scott Griffen, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Definition of soft-pedaled

Browse Nearby Words

downplay
downplayed
downplaying
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Downplayed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downplayed. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of defer

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All