plays down

Verb

play down (third-person singular simple present plays down, present participle playing down, simple past and past participle played down)

1. (idiomatic, transitive) To make or attempt to make something seem less important, likely, or obvious.
   • The essay attempts to play down the role slavery had in the Civil War.

   Synonyms:

   de-emphasize, downplay, bagatellize, banalize, belittle, cut down, denigrate, degrade, deprecate, derogate

   Antonyms:

   play up, big up, cut it fat, exaggerate, hyperbolize, overcharge, overdo, overemphasize, overstate, stretch