soft–pedal

to reduce in apparent importance she politely tries to soft-pedal her accomplishments when talking to less fortunate people Synonyms de-emphasize, downplay, play down Related Words underplay, understate; bad-mouth, belittle, cry down, decry, denigrate, deprecate, depreciate, derogate, dismiss, disparage, kiss off, minimize, poor-mouth, put down, run down, talk down, trash, trash-talk Near Antonyms exaggerate, overdo, overdraw, overstate; elaborate, embellish, embroider, magnify, pad, stretch; fudge, hedge; melodramatize, overemphasize, overplay, sensationalize