play down

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play down

verb plays down · playing down · played down

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.
Similar: de-emphasize, downplay, bagatellize, banalize, belittle, cut down, denigrate, degrade, deprecate, derogate, disparage, dispraise · Opposite: play up, big up, cut it fat, exaggerate, hyperbolize, overcharge, overdo, overemphasize, overstate, stretch, three-sheet

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MLA

"play down." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/play%20down. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

play down. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/play%20down

Chicago

"play down." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/play%20down.

BibTeX

@misc{play_down_2026,
  title = {play down},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/play%20down},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}