1
as in to understate
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Recent Examples of underplay
At one point, MacLachlan orchestrates a heart-stopping moment of reckoning for Bill and Tammy, written with a sudden, cathartic directness—a break in their usual language of deferential hesitations—which the actors underplay to perfection.
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Justin Chang, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
None of this is to underplay the value of this agreement to Paramount’s streaming business.
—Josef Adalian, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2025
Mintz more than matches the acrobatic dancing of Donald O’Connor’s Cosmo in the movie but underplays the character’s goofiness and goes for a sly, self-respecting sassiness instead.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 22 July 2025
To say that there is no love lost between the two sides would be to underplay the depth of feeling here.
—Jack Lang, New York Times, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for underplay
Justin Chang, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
None of this is to underplay the value of this agreement to Paramount’s streaming business.
—Josef Adalian, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2025
Mintz more than matches the acrobatic dancing of Donald O’Connor’s Cosmo in the movie but underplays the character’s goofiness and goes for a sly, self-respecting sassiness instead.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 22 July 2025
To say that there is no love lost between the two sides would be to underplay the depth of feeling here.
—Jack Lang, New York Times, 9 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for underplay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underplay
Verb
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The Verona remains one of Madison Avenue’s architectural standouts—a mix of early 20th-century craftsmanship and understated New York glamour.—
Abby Montanez,
Robb Report,
30 Oct. 2025
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No one has ever accused Kim Kardashian of being understated.—
Kathleen Walsh,
Glamour,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Advertisement China might overplay its hand—that remains a real danger.—
Kerry Brown,
Time,
31 Oct. 2025
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But Barkley suggested the players should be careful to not overplay their hand.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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However, the Russian leader has tried to downplay the impact of the sanctions.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
24 Oct. 2025
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Russ Anderson also failed to challenge the bank’s incentive compensation program, failed to institute effective controls and repeatedly downplayed sales practices misconduct, Hsu previously said.—
Desiree Mathurin,
Charlotte Observer,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Though the Maldives is the first country to enact such a ban, similar proposals have been debated – and nearly imposed – in other parts of the world.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
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President Woodrow Wilson enacted the Cloture Rule in 1917, requiring a two-thirds majority vote to pass legislation and prevent prolonged speeches from halting debate.—
Callum Sutherland,
Time,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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One could easily be accused of overacting, of doing too much.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
20 Feb. 2025
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There are few instances of someone overacting more in a movie, unnecessarily adding an undercurrent of murderous, jokey psychotic to an already bizarre creation.—
Mark Kennedy,
Boston Herald,
13 Dec. 2024
Verb
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In order to break free of those constraints, Hedda acts out and becomes an architect of destruction.—
Kathleen Newman-Bremang,
Refinery29,
23 Oct. 2025
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The Kinahans seemed to be acting out of pure rage.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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And to dramatize how easily the past repeats itself.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Nov. 2025
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Panahi followed suit with his first feature-length film, The White Balloon, using a pair of siblings trying to find a goldfish for their Nowruz, or New Year, celebration to dramatize economic hardship.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Their language mimics the essence of things, evocations of items and experiences.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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Crucially, the scientists mimicked this process by creating an artificial neural network, and by applying a simple algorithm called gradient descent to increase the accuracy of its predictions.—
James Somers,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Underplay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underplay. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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