PLAYS DOWN Synonyms: 84 Similar and Opposite Words

plays down

verb

present tense third-person singular of play down

as in dismisses

to express scornfully one's low opinion of out of sheer envy, she would always play down her sister's accomplishments

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in minimizes

to reduce in apparent importance if you play down your part in the project, you won't get the credit you deserve

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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 plays down If any lingering question of home-court advantage persisted, it was made crystal clear in the final 30 seconds who had the biggest backing, as Barclays erupted in celebration of the Liberty’s game-winning plays down the stretch. — Annie Costabile, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026 Wang plays down the potential for renegade robots to wreak havoc. — Charlie Campbell, Time, 23 July 2026 Even for the Kremlin, which often plays down painful setbacks, the stark reality has become hard to sidestep. — Matthew Chance, CNN Money, 29 June 2026 Rhy made some huge plays down the stretch. — Christopher Harris, CBS News, 10 June 2026 But, powered by veteran guard CJ McCollum and some gutsy defensive plays down the stretch, the Hawks won 107-106 to even the series at one game apiece. — Lauren Williams, AJC.com, 21 Apr. 2026 The Hornets played great and made those plays down the stretch. — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 15 Apr. 2026 Santos, who scored a career-high 31 points in the Warriors win over Brooklyn on Wednesday, made several big plays down the stretch. — ABC News, 28 Mar. 2026 Valanciunas is slow-footed and plays down the floor in pick-and-roll coverage, leaving the Nuggets more vulnerable to pick-and-pop bigs and other ripple effects of their help rotations around the floor. — Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 21 Mar. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plays down

Verb

Trump dismisses warnings Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk have all called for greater government oversight of the industry after a series of hacks revealed AI agents conspiring to deceive humans.

— Jill Colvin, Chicago Tribune, 19 Sep. 2026
The report dismisses theories that the downfall of SVB was accelerated by rumors spreading on social media at the time.

— Matt Egan, CNN Money, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of dismisses

Verb

Analysts suggest this may reflect that as the Fed gradually downplays forward guidance, market sensitivity to Fed wording—as well as the Fed's overall influence over markets—could be waning.

— , CNBC, 28 Aug. 2026
In her role as well as elsewhere, Kalle downplays the explicit homophobia that might have rendered this a more simplistic allegory, making Asla less a figure of interfering jealousy than a woman who simply doesn’t want to be abandoned yet again.

— Dennis Harvey, Variety, 26 July 2026

Definition of downplays

Verb

The governor’s effective yield to Harris diminishes the possibility of a showdown between two of California’s most powerful political figures in an election whose stakes are viewed by the Democratic Party as existential.

— Justine McDaniel, Los Angeles Times, 14 Sep. 2026
If those are important to you, that diminishes the credit's value.

— Jason Stauffer, CNBC, 8 Sep. 2026