Words / C1

down-PLAY/ˌdaʊnˈpleɪ/

To downplay is to make something seem less important or serious: downplay a risk, downplay a gap. Play down is the phrasal twin; emphasise (this batch) sits opposite; downgrade (this batch) changes official status. A missing night cohort is not a rounding issue.

Meaning

To make something seem less important or serious than it is.

Examples

• “Do not downplay a missing night cohort as “a rounding issue”.”
• “Play down is the same idea as a phrasal verb. Minimise is a cousin. Gloss (already in the dictionary) is smoothing over. Rounding is a declared method with a note. An omitted shift is a hole. Name the hole; do not rename it as arithmetic.”

Good to know

Make it seem less serious. Phrasal: play down. Opposite: emphasise (this batch). Status verb: downgrade (this batch). Omission ≠ rounding.

Near in meaning

minimise

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