as in minimized
to reduce in apparent importance
he self-deprecatingly downplays his own contributions to the festival's success
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Recent Examples of downplayed
The Russian space agency has previously downplayed the danger of its weapons tests in space.
—
Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
In a separate interview with CNN on Wednesday, Luntz also downplayed inflation as an election issue and drew a distinction with affordability.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Democrats, however, mostly downplayed social issues when speaking to the wider electorate.
—W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 6 Nov. 2025
Still, even economists who downplayed the short-term impact of the court’s decision acknowledged significant implications for the years-long outlook of the economy.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2025
Democrats, however, have downplayed the impact Mamdani would have.
—Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
In our conversation, Skrenta downplayed the importance of any particular newspaper or magazine.
—Alex Reisner, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
That may explain why some allies such as former White House advisor Steve Bannon are pushing for an unconstitutional third term that the president has also toyed with at some points and downplayed at others.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Cavanagh downplayed the need for NBCUniversal to bulk up with more assets after the Versant spinoff.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025
Lauren Kent, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
In a separate interview with CNN on Wednesday, Luntz also downplayed inflation as an election issue and drew a distinction with affordability.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 8 Nov. 2025
Democrats, however, mostly downplayed social issues when speaking to the wider electorate.
—W. James Antle Iii, The Washington Examiner, 6 Nov. 2025
Still, even economists who downplayed the short-term impact of the court’s decision acknowledged significant implications for the years-long outlook of the economy.
—Max Zahn, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2025
Democrats, however, have downplayed the impact Mamdani would have.
—Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2025
In our conversation, Skrenta downplayed the importance of any particular newspaper or magazine.
—Alex Reisner, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
That may explain why some allies such as former White House advisor Steve Bannon are pushing for an unconstitutional third term that the president has also toyed with at some points and downplayed at others.
—Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
Cavanagh downplayed the need for NBCUniversal to bulk up with more assets after the Versant spinoff.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 30 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for downplayed
Verb
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Many employers minimized the risk by refusing to hire Black workers altogether.—
Equal Justice Initiative,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
-
The crowd roared when the Blue Jays got a big hit or a big out, and even booed when the baseball game was minimized into a smaller window when the puck was dropped.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The domestic violence case was dismissed and the theft charge had yet to be disputed in court.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
9 Nov. 2025
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Carrie, meanwhile, is villainized for her admittedly deluded quest to reunite with her biological son in a world that has dismissed them.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
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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
Verb
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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
Cite this Entry
“Downplayed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/downplayed. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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