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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After The New York Post published the Russini-Vrabel photos last week, the pair downplayed the handsy interaction.—
Rick Sobey,
Boston Herald,
17 Apr. 2026
-
Ladapo and Kennedy have downplayed vaccine safety, defying decades of scientific evidence to the contrary.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
16 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Florida attorneys general in both parties scrupulously minimized their secondary roles as partisan politicians.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
14 Apr. 2026
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As a result, low-end distortion is minimized, and sound becomes clearer.—
George Yang,
PC Magazine,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Some claims have been dismissed or settled out of court, while others are ongoing.—
Michael Kaplan,
CBS News,
19 Apr. 2026
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For as long as medicine has been practiced, women’s health concerns have been minimized, misdiagnosed or dismissed.—
Dr. Sanjay Gupta,
CNN Money,
19 Apr. 2026
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 21 Apr. 2026.
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