as in criticism
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Dissimilar Words
as in minimizing
to reduce in apparent importance
she politely tries to soft-pedal her accomplishments when talking to less fortunate people
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of soft-pedaling
Alex Ward, Boston Herald, 15 Aug. 2025
Verb
Nothing grates quite like those slick pharmaceutical ads blaring across the TV, promising quick fixes while soft-pedaling potential side effects.
—Alex Ward, Boston Herald, 15 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for soft-pedaling
Noun
-
And cornerback Mike Jackson, who had four pass breakups and an interception in the playoff game, dismissed criticism of Evero’s play-calling on the defense’s final drive.—
Mike Kaye
Updated January 11,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Jan. 2026
-
The couple, who did not grow up knowing one another because of estrangements in their families, faced criticism from both sets of parents for the union.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
That pattern — local districts rejecting or minimizing antisemitism complaints, followed by state reversals and orders to change course — appears again and again across the Bay Area in California Department of Education documents obtained by Bay Area News Group.—
Molly Gibbs,
Mercury News,
12 Jan. 2026
-
This higher specific impulse could dramatically reduce transit times to Mars, minimizing astronauts’ exposure to microgravity and cosmic radiation, both of which pose health risks over long periods.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
12 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Yet many patients report waiting years between first symptoms and diagnosis, with studies showing longer delays and higher rates of symptom minimization among women of color.—
Lauryn Higgins,
Flow Space,
6 Jan. 2026
-
But regulatory frameworks such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and Colorado Artificial Intelligence Act (CAIA) emphasize data minimization, retention limits and individual privacy rights.—
Asaf Kochan,
Forbes.com,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Trump was busy downplaying the severity of the new coronavirus and insisting that the country had to swiftly reopen.—
Rogé Karma,
The Atlantic,
7 Jan. 2026
-
For one, Rebecca is mad at Charlie for downplaying the massive risk and selling his own gas-finding abilities so well.—
Ben Rosenstock,
Vulture,
5 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The shooting inflamed tensions a day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, prompting protests and condemnation from state and city officials there.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Elon Musk’s xAI has restricted its AI chatbot Grok’s image generation capabilities to paying subscribers only, following widespread condemnation over its use to create non-consensual sexualized images of real women and children.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Confidence can tip into defensiveness, so your challenge has a lot to do with asserting boundaries without emotional withdrawal and honoring your needs without dismissing others.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
-
The president spoke little about democracy in Venezuela, dismissing a potential role for its longstanding democratic opposition in running the country in the immediate aftermath of the operation.—
Kate Linthicum,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Condemnations Some South American leaders offered some of the strongest and swiftest denunciations, alongside Iran and Russia.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
3 Jan. 2026
-
In addition to Murton's denunciations of conditions at Cummins and Tucker, his book explores the woefully inadequate women's prison, located on the same grounds as Cummins.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
27 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
In coordination with former President Franklin Roosevelt’s public denouncement of discrimination of Black Americans, Plato, president of the Plato Construction Company, was contracted to build 88 houses on the site of Camp Taylor, the former military installation in southwest Louisville.—
Steve Wiser,
Louisville Courier Journal,
22 Nov. 2025
-
To their credit, the Young Republicans organization issued a strong denouncement of the comments, although I was horrified by reading the online responses to it.—
Steven Greenhut,
Oc Register,
19 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Soft-pedaling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soft-pedaling. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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