How to Use downplay in a Sentence

downplay

verb
  • Athletes often downplay their injuries.
  • Duane Brown saw no need to downplay what’s ahead for the New York Jets.
    Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 22 Dec. 2022
  • In the short term, Putin may see it as the best way to downplay the crisis and move on.
    Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, Foreign Affairs, 6 July 2023
  • These folks just look good, and there’s no point in trying to downplay that.
    Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 6 Aug. 2023
  • For his part, Ken can tend to try to downplay that notion.
    Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 15 Apr. 2024
  • Focusing on the center of the cone downplays the impact of a storm.
    Yacob Reyes, Axios, 25 Sep. 2024
  • That’s even as he’s downplayed the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
    Steve Peoples, Brendan Farrington and Kat Stafford, Anchorage Daily News, 27 July 2023
  • That subplot may end in heartbreak, yet none of it is downplayed.
    David Fear, Rolling Stone, 15 Nov. 2023
  • Some activists and former aides have tried to downplay their plans.
    Elizabeth Dias, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2024
  • Yuma has been wise not to downplay its heritage in its quest for the trendy tourist dollar.
    Sam McManis, Sacramento Bee, 25 Jan. 2024
  • Trump has downplayed the Jan. 6 attack and promised to pardon those convicted in the fray.
    Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2024
  • But the singer/TV host was eager to point out, rather than downplay, the parts of the album that are most harrowing for her.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 26 Apr. 2023
  • Philip Rivers would like nothing more than to downplay his return to Athens High School this week.
    Ben Thomas | Bthomas@al.com, al, 11 Aug. 2022
  • Shame on all who want to downplay Caitlin Clark’s part in filling the stadiums.
    Chicago Tribune, 6 June 2024
  • Meanwhile, both Israel and the US downplayed the effectiveness of the strike.
    Helen Regan, CNN, 2 Oct. 2024
  • Pan downplayed the impact of the testing on his gold-medal performance.
    Jennifer Jett, NBC News, 2 Aug. 2024
  • Quinton Cooley led the Flames with 79 yards and had the best breakout of the game on 41-yard rush in the third quarter, but the run game was downplayed for the first time this season.
    Jenna Ortiz, The Arizona Republic, 1 Jan. 2024
  • Officials on all sides, though, downplay analogies to the past.
    Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2023
  • Russia sought to downplay the blasts and said several munitions at the base caught fire and blew up.
    Christine Fernando, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2022
  • The deaths come as reports began emerging that Hawaii may have downplayed the threat of wildfires in Maui.
    Justin Klawans, The Week, 13 Aug. 2023
  • Still, Jones, a seventh-year pro, wouldn’t downplay the impact of his huge performance in the contest that sent the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl.
    Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY, 30 Jan. 2023
  • Even good movies about writers often downplay the hard part—their work.
    Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Yet all the deserved acclaim for the Star Wars spin-off’s 12-episode run shouldn’t downplay the fact that the early part of the series had a big problem: saminess.
    Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 22 Dec. 2022
  • With history on their side, the Heat downplayed any level of concern.
    Hayden Bird, BostonGlobe.com, 24 May 2023
  • In fact, downplaying the harms of slavery is a common theme in PragerU’s content.
    Adrienne Mahsa Varkiani, The New Republic, 1 Aug. 2023
  • That is one of the principal reasons, if not the principal reason, Kate has sought to downplay the surgery.
    Brie Stimson, Fox News, 25 Jan. 2024
  • Disney downplayed questions of whether the deal would have lasting impacts.
    Bypaolo Confino, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2023
  • The program’s textbooks, The Times found, at times falsify or downplay the failings of the U.S. government.
    Ilana Marcus, New York Times, 11 Dec. 2022
  • But Burrow’s his own worst enemy when trying to downplay the matchup.
    Michael Niziolek, cleveland, 15 Dec. 2022
  • But that doesn’t downplay the possibilities of what this technique could bring to the table.
    Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 21 July 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'downplay.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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