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.
—
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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Crafted in gold-toned bronze, its coloring is understated and elegant, allowing the designer to work with a more experimental shape.—
Rachel Gallaher,
Robb Report,
4 Oct. 2025
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In contrast to any expectations of bravado his work might engender, his demeanor was courteous, understated, his conversation as sharp and perceptive as his art.—
Edna Bonhomme,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Did the Nexstar and Sinclair station groups overplay their hands by aggressively taking on Disney this week?—
Michael Schneider,
Variety,
20 Sep. 2025
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Guilherme Biro’s pass over the top to Owen Wolff, son of Sporting KC legend Josh Wolff, was overplayed by SKC’s Robert Voloder.—
Daniel Sperry,
Kansas City Star,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Clooney also lends clarity on his decision to write a gutsy New York Times op-ed piece urging Joe Biden to not seek reelection, after Clooney set up a lucrative fundraiser for the incumbent and observed close up the decline in mental acuity that other Democrats were downplaying.—
Mike Fleming Jr,
Deadline,
2 Oct. 2025
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However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence downplayed the shift in the latest assessment, emphasizing at the time that the overall conclusions had not changed.—
Nora Gamez Torres,
Miami Herald,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The statistics also mark a sharp increase in shooting victims under the age of 18, with the NYPD accounting for an 80% jump in incidents since the law was enacted in 2018.—
Julia Bonavita,
FOXNews.com,
29 Sep. 2025
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When America entered the Second World War, states and cities moved to enact additional hate speech laws, in part to prevent race riots that threatened to disrupt industrial production and the war effort.—
Time,
Time,
29 Sep. 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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During her latest podcast episode, Cunningham continued to speak out, calling out the league boss for acting out of self-interest.—
Paulina Dedaj,
FOXNews.com,
4 Oct. 2025
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At these screenings, the film is shown on the big screen while a cast silently acts out the entire film in front of the audience.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Mahama’s installations, which say something about societal deterioration, also dramatize the country’s inability to sustain robust funding in the arts or technology in its postindependence years.—
Edna Bonhomme,
Artforum,
1 Oct. 2025
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This task requires her to dramatize the concepts of loneliness and identity to say something original and surprising.—
Sanjena Sathian,
Vulture,
23 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Inevitably, someone ended up swinging a quilt around to mimic the great snake’s darting heads and churning coils.—
Seamus Sullivan
September 29,
Literary Hub,
29 Sep. 2025
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Those cuts wound up mimicking what a diamond looks in its natural state.—
James Manso,
Footwear News,
29 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Underplay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underplay. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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