Definition of "de-emphasize" [de-emphasize]

• To decrease the emphasis on; minimize the importance of. (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.

• "And wired to zero in on any apparent bad news in a larger stream of information (e.g., fixing on a casual aside from a family member or co-worker), to tune out or de-emphasize reassuring good news, and to keep thinking about the one thing that was negative in a day in which a hundred small things happened, ninety-nine of which were neutral or positive."
• "Now some Republicans wondered if the party should de-emphasize its antislavery values in an effort to attract voters."
• "Based on the study, Smart planned to de-emphasize interdiction to concentrate on the new target systems: “[The aim is to] bring about defeat of the enemy as expeditiously as possible [rather than] allowing him to languish in comparative quiescence while we expand our efforts beating up supply routes.”"