Meaning & use
downplay
Last updated
UK/ˌdaʊnˈpleɪ/
US/ˈdaʊnˌpleɪ/
Meaning
verbtransitive
To talk about or treat something as less important, serious or impressive than it really is.
Grammar: Takes an object: the mayor downplayed the risk.
Patterns
- downplay something
- downplay the importance of something
The company tried to downplay the data breach.
She downplayed her role in the victory.
Doctors do not want to downplay the risks of the surgery.
Word forms
| third person singular | downplays |
|---|---|
| past tense | downplayed |
| past participle | downplayed |
| -ing form | downplaying |
Common combinations
- downplay the risk
- Officials tried to downplay the risk.
- downplay the importance
- He downplayed the importance of the meeting.
- downplay the significance
- Critics say the report downplays the significance of the findings.
- downplay your achievements
- She tends to downplay her achievements.
- deliberately downplay
- They deliberately downplayed the problem.
Synonyms and how they differ
- minimize
- Minimize is similar but can also mean to reduce something physically, not only in how it is described.
- play down
- Play down is the phrasal form with the same meaning, and is slightly more informal.
- understate
- Understate is about describing something in weaker terms, but downplay suggests deliberate effort to make it seem unimportant.
- belittle
- Belittle suggests treating something as worthless in a critical way, which is stronger than downplay.
Opposites
Word family
- play down phrasal verb
- the same meaning as downplay
- downplayed adjective
- made to seem less important
- downplaying noun
- the act of treating as less important
Commonly confused: downplay or downgrade?
downplay vs downgrade
Downgrade means to lower the rank or value of something, while downplay changes only how serious it seems.
Practice
The spokesperson tried to ___ the seriousness of the leak, calling it a minor glitch.
Choose one answer.
Downplay means to make something seem smaller. Magnify, dramatize and exaggerate all do the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “downplay”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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