downplay

English

Etymology

Synthetic form of the phrase play down.

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

downplay (third-person singular simple present downplays, present participle downplaying, simple past and past participle downplayed)

1. (transitive) To de-emphasize; to present or portray as less important or consequential.

   He would sometimes downplay his Princeton education by saying simply that he went to school in New Jersey.

Usage notes

• The synonymous alternative form play down is slightly more formal, or slightly less informal.

Synonyms

• trivialize
• understate

Translations

to de-emphasize; to present or portray something as less important or consequential

• Arabic: قَلَّلَ‎ (qallala)
• Bulgarian: омаловажавам (bg) (omalovažavam)
• Czech: bagatelizovat (cs) impf
• Dutch: bagatelliseren (nl), geringschatten, minimaliseren (nl)
• Finnish: vähätellä (fi)
• French: minimiser (fr)

• German: herunterspielen (de), verharmlosen (de), kleinreden (de), bagatellisieren (de)
• Hebrew: גִמֵּד‎ (he) (giméd), הִצְנִיעַ‎ (hitsnía)
• Italian: minimizzare, sminuire (it)
• Polish: bagatelizować (pl)
• Russian: преуменьша́ть (ru) (preumenʹšátʹ)
• Spanish: minimizar (es), quitar hierro

Anagrams

• play down, playdown