as in downplayed
to reduce in apparent importance
she politely tries to soft-pedal her accomplishments when talking to less fortunate people
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Recent Examples of soft-pedaled
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
Scott Griffen, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for soft-pedaled
Verb
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The Russian space agency has previously downplayed the danger of its weapons tests in space.—
Lauren Kent,
CNN Money,
9 Nov. 2025
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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
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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Soft-pedaled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soft-pedaled. Accessed 10 Nov. 2025.
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