played down
Made less significant
Played down is the past tense of play down, meaning to minimize the importance or severity of something.
Someone who plays down an achievement is being modest; someone who plays down a scandal is being evasive: Officials played down the risk of contamination.
The opposite is play up.
- downplayedMinimized the significance of
- understateExpress with restraint
- minimizedReduced to smallest extent
- dismissedReleased from duty
- whitewashConceal or coat pale
swept under the rug · pooh-poohed · soft-pedal · euphemize · deemphasize · shrugged off · gloss over · papering over · trivialize · sugarcoat · diminished · hush up · belittle · deflected · spin · hushed · muted · damage control
- downplaying tacticsdownplayed, minimized, trivialized, understated, belittled
- rejectedrejected, spurned, rebuffed, snubbed, refused
played downplayed up
Emphasized or exaggerated
exaggerated · emphasized · highlighted · magnified · accentuated
played downupstaged
Outperformed for attention
hammed up · milked · grandstanded · showboated · showed off
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