Definition of "downplay" []

• To minimize the significance of; play down: downplayed the bad news. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "What Glenn and other critics seem to downplay is that media coverage tends to be negative about everything."
• "Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton last night criticized the Bush administration for its response to Iran's nuclear program, saying it had chosen to "downplay" the crisis over the past several years."
• "Did he "downplay" the significance of Florida and Ohio or play up the significance of other states - VA, NV, CO, MO, NC ... etc"