He played down the seriousness of his condition because he didn't want anyone to worry.
It's a sensitive issue, and they want to play it down until after the elections.
New idioms dictionary. 2014.
play down — (something) to try to make something seem less serious than it really is. He played down the seriousness of his condition because he didn t want anyone to worry. It s a sensitive issue, and they want to play it down until after the elections … New idioms dictionary
play down — verb understate the importance or quality of he played down his royal ancestry • Syn: ↑background, ↑downplay • Ant: ↑play up, ↑foreground (for: ↑background) … Useful english dictionary
play down — PHRASAL VERB If you play down something, you try to make people believe that it is not particularly important. [V P n (not pron)] Western diplomats have played down the significance of the reports... [V P n (not pron)] He plays down rumours that… … English dictionary
play down — [v] pretend as if something were unimportant belittle, deemphasize, gloss over*, hold back*, make light of*, make little of*, minimize, mute, restrain, soften, soft pedal*, underplay, underrate; concepts 49,59,63 Ant. blow up, build up, explode,… … New thesaurus
play down — {v.} To give less emphasis to; make (something) seem less important; divert attention from; draw notice away from. * /The newspaper stories played down the actor s unattractive past./ * /A salesman s job is to emphasize the good points of his… … Dictionary of American idioms
play down — {v.} To give less emphasis to; make (something) seem less important; divert attention from; draw notice away from. * /The newspaper stories played down the actor s unattractive past./ * /A salesman s job is to emphasize the good points of his… … Dictionary of American idioms
play down — verb 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. Syn: de emphasize, downplay … Wiktionary
pull down (something) — 1. to destroy a building. Many of those homes were pulled down to make way for new construction. They pulled my house down to build a QuickMart. 2. to earn a large amount of money. She pulls down over $100,000 a year. I don t know what he makes,… … New idioms dictionary
tone down something — tone down (something) to make something less forceful or offensive. The foul language in the original play has been toned down for television. Your presentation has to be convincing, so don t tone it down … New idioms dictionary
play down — give less emphasis or make something seem less important The politician played down the polls that showed that he was becoming less popular … Idioms and examples
