as in downplays
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-pedals
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2026
Heringer believes the city soft-pedals crime, pointing to metrics that show improvement but not where pockets of violent crime persist.
—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
This loud-and-proud version of Sonny certainly feels progressive, but in a different way it soft-pedals Sonny’s complications.
—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
31 Mar. 2026
Heringer believes the city soft-pedals crime, pointing to metrics that show improvement but not where pockets of violent crime persist.
—
Patricia Gallagher Newberry,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
2 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for soft-pedals
Verb
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Even as Sand downplays party politics, Democrats are putting faith in him to blaze a trail in the state after struggling electorally in recent cycles.
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That's likely why Mindelle downplays that part of the gig, and instead focuses on the comedy that keeps her on her toes.
Verb
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This minimizes risks to do with data breaches and unauthorized access.
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This helps support the weight of the lights and minimizes drooping.
Verb
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Amon, a Brazilian engineer who joined Qualcomm 30 years ago and became its CEO in 2021, dismisses the notion that this is all too much for Qualcomm to chase at once, saying the company has been on this reinvention path many times before.
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De Borbon dismisses the accusations as coming from a small group of disgruntled owners.
Cite this Entry
“Soft-pedals.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soft-pedals. Accessed 6 Jul. 2026.
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