How To Use Downplay In A Sentence

  • No right-thinking person wants to downplay this problem or its implications.
  • Collider called the reshoots "extensive," while FOX downplayed them, saying that the reshoots were always planned and telling Today on ReelzChannel - Videos
  • It is nice to get a bit of the "other side" of the story ... my version of World History taught in freshman year of High School, al; though not strictly anti-Catholic, nevertheless really downplayed the accomplishments of the Church. Weird Things
  • And aren't we furious when we find out that people like the engineers at the Deepwater Horizon oilrig, have downplayed the dangers? Lise Van Susteren: Psychic Pains and Spilled Oil
  • The original had a thin premise and an anorexic plot, but delivered brilliantly choreographed fight scenes and downplayed gun violence.
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  • They downplay, or justify, the proliferation of white supremacist - tinged paramilitary groups, police violence, and racial profiling.
  • There's also a tendency I think to downplay, or forget, or make light of just how scurrilous and damaging a charge this was.
  • The Democratic party is just as corrupt as the Republican party, the only difference is that Democrats have the mainstream media that will downplay and coverup all their greed and corruptness. McMahon says WWE antics not a liability to Senate run
  • It would be irresponsible for me to downplay the magnitude of this crisis or assure you that everything is under control.
  • Military doctrine of the time emphasized massed rifle fire, downplaying marksmanship.
  • Even in the scene where he appears majestic, Ellison uses the comic to downplay his regality.
  • Catholics no longer go to confession as a regular practice, and many Protestant services have eliminated or downplayed the confession of sins.
  • Nice to see you downplay the progress made by FPU, or the properity in communities like Corner Brook, Grand Falls, Buchans, Labrador, the bases, etc . The Newfoundland Nationalist orthodoxy
  • The violence against peaceful demonstrators by police was downplayed, while violence against police was played up.
  • Bush administration officials are trying to downplay the obviously rising tensions between China and the United States, saying that the United States wants to put those issues in the past, as they put it, and to move on to what they call broader issues, whatever that means. CNN Transcript Nov 30, 2007
  • The government is trying to downplay the violence.
  • When he first began Gay Ski Week, he initially downplayed the homosexual element, partly because he was reluctant to be too public about his own sexual proclivities.
  • If a compliment did get thrown your way, you either accepted it silently or downplayed it until it sounded more like an insult.
  • In covering the story last Tuesday, The Times used the term "sponsor messages" in a weak effort to downplay the scope of PBS's sellout. Pearl Korn: What Effect Will More Corporate Ads and Interrupted Programming Really Have on PBS?
  • I do not think we have ever, at any stage, downplayed the risk to children, but it is important that we do not overplay the risk to children.
  • The campaign to stay in Europe downplayed the significance of the move. Times, Sunday Times
  • These prophecies are often reduced to the status of propaganda only, downplaying their religious value as interpretations of history, parenesis, and actualization of past authoritative utterances.
  • I do not think we have ever, at any stage, downplayed the risk to children, but it is important that we do not overplay the risk to children.
  • Jim downplays the loss; thankfully, he didn't sustain any bad physical injuries.
  • FBI spokesmen publicly sought to downplay the damage, saying the compromised commercial server -- maintained by AT&T -- was used exclusively for unclassified and "nonsensitive" communications that did not involve ongoing investigations. FBI COMPUTERS: YOU DON'T HAVE MAIL
  • The commercial broadcaster has tried to downplay expectations that an appointment will be made next week but is resigned to intense speculation. Times, Sunday Times
  • The committee report downplays the importance of this episode.
  • 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. Election Central Morning Roundup
  • It becomes even more appaling when some twisted argument of cultural relativism is made to downplay the crimes the governments of many countries commit against LGBT people. Save Kiana Firouz
  • The commercial broadcaster has tried to downplay expectations that an appointment will be made next week but is resigned to intense speculation. Times, Sunday Times
  • Mr. Netanyahu, who remains in Washington and will address the pro-Israel lobby group on Monday, has since sought to downplay what media reports describe as a worsened rift with Mr. Obama, saying Saturday that there will be differences among friends. Obama Addresses Questions About Mideast Peace Approach
  • The power of religious belief and commitment that motivated women to enter a sisterhood and engage in social activism is often downplayed in historians' accounts.
  • While the first line of Wall Street's defense of its dictatorship is the more openly right wing, hard-line approach of trying to downplay and attack Occupy Wall Street thru any and all physical, political and media means, the next stage of defense will be subtler- and Democrat-led: try to divide and coopt the movement. Roberto Lovato: Occupy Wall Street Must End the Dictatorship - of Corporations
  • Wall again downplayed his individual matchup with Turner (which really isn't a fair comparison right now, with both players in drastically different situations for their franchises). John Wall joins elite company with stellar performance in home debut
  • (Although that downplays my 'hipness' -- I do enuf Chapl-aware to make mention of Him in order to win the hearts and minds of my kids ... if not affection, devotion, and fifty more years skimming ten percent of their Official United States paystubs into FICA -- 'Soc. Dave Chappelle at Pioneer Courthouse Square at midnight? (Jack Bog's Blog)
  • While a natural law theorist might downplay the importance of derivationist knowledge of the natural law, it is hard to see how a consistent natural law theorist could entirely reject the possibility of such knowledge, given the view that we can provide a substantial account of how the human good is grounded in nature: for to show that the human good is grounded in nature is to show that human nature explains why certain things are goods, and it is hard to see how one could affirm that claim while entirely rejecting the possibility of derivationist knowledge of the human good (see Murphy 2001, pp. 16-17). The Natural Law Tradition in Ethics
  • But WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange suggested that the number of civilian casualties was being underplayed, saying the secret files show that U.S. reports use "self-exculpatory language, redefine civilian casualties as insurgent casualties, downplay the number of casualties. Afghan Government: NATO Rocket Killed 52 Civilians
  • On the other hand, by downplaying her own commitment to gay rights, she seemed to be validating the political closet.
  • It's a no-win situation, if you ignore the character's race it means that you are trying to "downplay" it, so audiences wont notice. Marketing Up’s Asian-American Lead Character | /Film
  • Not only does the Times puff up stories on social changes that it likes by front-paging them, it downplays changes likely to arouse conservative opposition.
  • What Glenn and other critics seem to downplay is that media coverage tends to be negative about everything. Archive 2003-09-01
  • The reason for the film was the celebration of OUP's quincentenary -- 1478 to 1978, with a special logo and all; it seemed to be a good excuse to celebrate OUP's eccentricity and gentlemanly amateurishness combined with some rather downplayed commercial sense. Old films a go go
  • He also downplays the quality of early muskets, but that too ignores the same reality.
  • We also know that Huemer has arbitrarily elevated on source of disagreement and downplayed his others using an arbitrary and particularized conception of the world. Election Prediction: Voting will be Irrational, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
  • The Times has been criticized for downplaying the strike by its own ombudsmen, as well as by actors and activists.
  • It continues to downplay the reality of the environmental disaster that is still unfolding in the region and to evade its responsibility for it. Times, Sunday Times
  • Did he "downplay" the significance of Florida and Ohio or play up the significance of other states - VA, NV, CO, MO, NC ... etc Obama Camp Downplays Ohio and Florida As Must-Wins
  • Anti-war activism by veterans over the years has been largely forgotten or downplayed.
  • Many sources downplay the toxicity factor and riddle toxins as unknown and indescribable, which is far from the truth. Kim Evans: Health Care: Scientific or Rational?
  • The coach is downplaying the team's poor performance.
  • He captures some important changes, but downplays the constraints on choice.
  • Even as the risks of cyberterrorism are overstated and overhyped, the risks of cybercrime are downplayed and minimized.
  • Despite downplaying the role of the forensic pathologist, it remains a key one in positively identifying the individual, the cause of death and helping to piece together how it happened.
  • It continues to downplay the reality of the environmental disaster that is still unfolding in the region and to evade its responsibility for it. Times, Sunday Times
  • Wanting to downplay the expert/subject imbalance I had to avoid the traditional androcentric scientific research methodologies where the researcher examines the subject.
  • As you interact with others, neither exaggerate nor downplay what's true for you.
  • EPA allowed toxic chemicals to harm poor Katrina victims: A GAO report revealed that EPA publicly downplayed the risk of asbestos inhalation, which is often released during home demolition, to city residents and failed to deploy air monitors in predominantly African-American neighborhoods. Darwiniana
  • He criticised him for downplaying the importance of public opinion about wanting to see universal suffrage in 2007.
  • Not to downplay the here and now of those problems, but bioterrorism is a very real threat that we must take equally seriously. Archive 2004-12-01
  • Or you may decide that an excess of humility led him to downplay or omit his own seminal role in "discovering" electricity. Free and Easy
  • First, the television news programs downplayed and minimized it.
  • But all this is ignored, because, in order to flatten out Potter's work into biographic expressivism, his modernist/formalist innovations have to be downplayed.
  • It would be irresponsible for me to downplay the magnitude of this crisis or assure you that everything is under control.
  • Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan called Palin a "nincompoop" last month for her downplaying of the Gipper's political legacy. Ed Rollins To Sarah Palin: 'You're No Reagan'
  • Sharma says companies may be trying to "downplay" the problem, but "it is certainly a big issue. Stent Safety Concerns Near Boiling Point
  • Feminist writers tend to downplay the whole thing and point an accusing finger at the drug companies.
  • The story is built up through successive emotional crescendos, immediately downplayed by abrupt narrative shifts.
  • China's economic geography was formerly heavily shaped by a socialist ideology that downplayed agglomeration economies.
  • Functional resumes emphasize your related skills while downplaying your work chronology.
  • The coach is downplaying the team's poor performance.
  • He downplayed the importance of developmental constraints, of mass extinctions, and species selection.
  • Afterwards, Knight again downplayed his quad injury. NCAA Men's Basketball - Central Conn. St. vs. Pittsburgh
  • They will insure that no matter what the magnitude of his achievement, the memory of it will be downplayed, marginalized and exorcised - just like before.
  • Julian always explained that very theory when he downplayed his label deal and tried to, in his words, “manage expectations” about what such a deal really meant. Last Night at Chateau Marmont
  • I think Gene is downplaying the tension between a culture dedicated to philosophy and a culture that has committed itself to getting a stable job.
  • The press has downplayed the president's role in the foreign affairs.
  • But its managing director downplayed any controversy.
  • The government has been trying to downplay the crisis.
  • It was extremely important, the lawyer had said, for her to downplay her looks as much as possible.
  • The racist aspects of the custom have been downplayed in recent decades, and the tale of Black Peter now describes him as a chimney sweep instead of a slave, which explains the blackface.
  • We made a deliberate decision to kind of downplay the Inaugural and not to try to tie too much of that to fundraising, so we're going to have work harder this year. President Remarks In Mammogram Announcement
  • To their credit, some of the larger producers of anti-virus software gently downplayed the Hare threat.
  • At others they have sought to discredit the report by suggesting it downplayed the actual extent of such connections.
  • His exploits included a record ascent of Hidden Peak in 1958, but he spent the rest of his life humbly downplaying the famous belay.
  • The Globe was front-paging this before they caught Patrick in what looks like a downplaying of his involvement.
  • And he is having none of what he sees as kidology from the other side, downplaying their chances.
  • Admirably, he downplays Orff the vulgarian and shapes this most popular of 20th century choral works into something more than just a series of orgiastic bangs and crashes.
  • But the human rights camp often downplays the military might that must underpin any successful effort to hold thugs and tyrants accountable for their atrocities.
  • Instead the authors attempt to downplay the hazards of mercury, a highly potent neurotoxin itself linked to developmental disorders, and they make the preposterous, insupportable assertion that reducing any air pollution from power plants will "do nothing" to reduce health threats. EPA Is On to Something on Mercury
  • He does not seem to smoke or drink, although he has downplayed his abstemiousness since joining the drinks group.
  • Sin and damnation are downplayed, and the distinctions between heaven and earth, the profane and the sacred, tend to be fudged.
  • If I am writing a history of modern Hungarian painting, for example, and I decide to describe Csaba's paintings on their own terms, downplaying or omitting their sources, I risk unmooring myself from historical sense.
  • I was also concerned at the tendency of some to downplay the effects of excess weight on health.
  • It continues to downplay the reality of the environmental disaster that is still unfolding in the region and to evade its responsibility for it. Times, Sunday Times
  • For now, you could throw a T-shirt over your bikini, shop for a swimsuit that downplays your curves or figure out where you could enjoy a girls-only swim.
  • The modernist whiteness of the walls, a classic ploy for downplaying the surface, becomes painful after a while.
  • More tailored bedding styles that downplay decorative pillows and shams are making the once humble sheet more visible than ever.
  • The Report repeatedly downplays the effects of violence on men.
  • Paris attempts to downplay his own fighting prowess and Hector chastises him lightly, criticizing him only for avoiding battle, not for lack of ability.
  • Todd always downplayed his athletic achievements.
  • The threat of the havoc is more bark than bite, though; although we see some of the effects of the fast burn, they are somewhat downplayed in favor of Constance's relationships with he mother and her partner, Andy. REVIEW: The Year's Best Science Fiction #25 edited by Gardner Dozois
  • Blessed with a remarkable intellect that he regularly downplayed, Sammy also possessed an almost computerlike ability to constantly sift through scenarios until he hit the one that seemed most likely. The Commander
  • Characteristically aloof, she downplays the importance of literary awards, yet recognises the significance they hold for some individuals.
  • He admits to the possibility/probablity that conciousness is a direct artifact of quantum mechanics but, for some reason, he wants to downplay the role of microtubules. A Voice from the Middle Ground
  • Although the Lis and the Murdochs tend to downplay it, there are elements of a family feud, something personal in the rivalry, dating back to 1993.
  • Indeed, scholars generally analyzed the documentary qualities of western art-a rather literal-minded approach that downplayed aesthetic considerations to concentrate on the issue of firsthand observation.
  • One of the aspects of the mortgage banking and housing sector melt-down that’s also been downplayed is the incredible amount of false, misleading, and inaccurate information at all levels. June « 2008 « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website
  • The Republicans were quick to try and get Bill Clinton impeached for infidelity - now they're trying their darnedest to keep their own adulterous politicians in office and downplay it! Steele: Sanford, Ensign affairs 'old news, old school'
  • One study, published in 2008 by a group of Army researchers in the New England Journal of Medicine, even downplayed the role of mild TBI, suggesting that people should use the word "concussion" rather than "mild traumatic brain injury" to avoid perpetuating the belief they are suffering from a long-term injury. Wired Top Stories
  • Of course, I shouldn't downplay these temps - as they will be dangerous for the homeless remember call the hypothermia hotline if you see anyone needing help. AM round-up: last night's "storm", cold & more
  • The council downplayed the security considerations, maintaining that any information that German repatriates might provide would ‘be more of a discouragement than of assistance to their compatriots.’
  • It is interesting though that the speaker, while identifying caritas in familiar, Christian terms, actually downplays its rich, religious significance.
  • It continues to downplay the reality of the environmental disaster that is still unfolding in the region and to evade its responsibility for it. Times, Sunday Times
  • I mean, we're not downplaying the seriousness of what's gone on here.
  • To particularize or identify one specific moment downplays how significant this texture, this atmosphere, of living in the dead in that one place, how present that is. 2009 March 12 | NIGEL BEALE NOTA BENE BOOKS
  • Our tendency to downplay the building of relationships erected a second roadblock to unity. Christianity Today
  • My husband hates the idea that women love chocolate more than men – he does not like the idea of downplaying his chocoholism, or the implication that it is unmanly! For MEN Only: Vintage Campbell’s Soup Ad » Sociological Images
  • Meanwhile, students were coming to the school office with reports a weapon was on the property, but downplayed the incident saying the weapon was only an air gun.
  • You are downplaying the honest feelings we have in regards to these injustices, and losing our respect.
  • Hsu and DPP Councilor Wang Shih-chien said the altered words showed the government had attempted to downplay the scandal and was vacillating in its handling of the matter.
  • Combat practice has on many occasions shown the erroneousness of views downplaying the role of the defense.
  • And really, in a move, a strategy by the White House to kind of downplay his significance, really portray him as a bit player, one line for Iran saying that it was really part of a brutal regime that put down its own citizens. CNN Transcript Sep 25, 2007
  • Earlier this year, Rubin downplayed the extent of the mortgage crisis, and implied more of the blame could be placed on American consumers than on the excesses of Wall Street. Bill Clinton Reflects on the Financial Crisis - Swampland - TIME.com
  • To their credit, some of the larger producers of anti-virus software gently downplayed the Hare threat.
  • Don't downplay the importance of engines as they will save your ship someday.
  • But his coverage of the Wagner report greatly downplays the report's criticisms.
  • The term secular humanist is applied to someone who concentrates on human activities and possibilities, usually downplaying or denying the importance of God and a life after death. Humanist
  • Meanwhile, it's downplaying such basics as khakis and plain blue jeans in favor of items like tops with matching belts.
  • In doing so he has challenged the role of landscape photography while furthering it, but at the price of downplaying the individual picture.
  • Early on they began the kind of downplay of this whole she needs to have a hefty double-digit number, a hefty double-digit win, saying look, Barack Obama has spent a lot of money in this state. CNN Transcript Apr 22, 2008
  • To say that the "twist" in the plot is implausible certainly downplays the sheer inanity of it.
  • The campaign to stay in Europe downplayed the significance of the move. Times, Sunday Times
  • Clinton administration approach to that has been to kind of downplay the threat of that technology. Betrayal: How the Clinton Administration Undermined American Security
  • (CNN) – An aide to Sarah Palin downplayed reports Tuesday about the former Alaska governor's use of a private jet during certain legs of a national bus tour to promote her memoir, "Going Rogue. Palin aide downplays use of private jet
  • You've got to downplay the compliment but you can't reject it because that seems ungracious.
  • The sound engineers go way overboard layering the electronica over the instruments, downplaying the women's talents.
  • These propoents of the clerisy believed themselves a cultural remname countering the two dominant philsophies of the era: Utilitarianiam and Evangelicism which both for their own reason downplayed art and culture. The Bourgeoisie and the Clerisy, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
  • Much structural analysis, much narratology, ignores or downplays the role of time in narrative in the name of synchronicity.
  • December 22nd, 2009 British singer ALEXANDRA BURKE has downplayed reports of a feud with her mother, insisting their relationship has always been "sparky". Gaea Times (by Simple Thoughts) Breaking News and incisive views 24/7
  • Those are things that will be missed in the downplaying of conveyancing to conveyancers rather than lawyers.
  • Gulf residents in particular, Markey said, "don't want this to be downplayed or low-balled, which is to some extent what has happened since that was released. Markey Says Report That Most Oil Is Gone Has Led To 'False Confidence'
  • He downplays this problem, but I think a close look at the evidence reveals that he is stretching.
  • But the surest way to fuel anti-migrant prejudice is for government to be seen to be dissembling or downplaying the extent or consequences of migration: honesty is the only viable policy.
  • The second is that pharmacist involvement in the distributive aspects of pharmacy practice is downplayed in professional curricula.
  • This is due to the government's incorrigible tendency to downplay the costs and exaggerate the benefits of the deal.
  • For this reason, I downplay and neutralise my own accent as much as possible - even so, I get occasional 'jokey' comments which piss me off. Pushy Galore
  • I think it's very important, and I think it was downplayed at the beginning by the administration.
  • Our tendency to downplay the building of relationships erected a second roadblock to unity. Christianity Today
  • Though that might appear to be a not-so-veiled shot at Shanahan, Haynesworth again downplayed any lingering friction with the head coach. Albert Haynesworth and Mike Shanahan: An unlikely win-win situation?
  • Values and ideologies certainly did play a role in affecting voter decisions, but to label the contest an ‘ideological battleground’ requires downplaying or ignoring the veil of flimflammery and flapdoodle behind which the political parties all too often concealed their ideas.
  • Even as the risks of cyberterrorism are overstated and overhyped, the risks of cybercrime are downplayed and minimized.
  • To his credit, Boswell never sought to downplay his debauches.
  • Saddam's saber-rattling, his accumulation of weapons of mass destruction, his brutal police state, and anti-American and anti-Israeli rhetoric were resolutely downplayed -- "certain Iraqi policies and activities" -- and Bush pronounced himself "pleased" with Saddam's willingness to attend the Jedda conference that Saddam himself had convened at the point of a gun. Geoffrey Wawro: Desert Storm Turns Twenty: What Really Happened in 1991, and Why it Matters, Part I of II
  • The press has downplayed the president's role in the foreign affairs.
  • Brownback states in his letter that Ricciardone "downplayed" the Bush administration's pro-democracy efforts in Egypt and "did not favor" a strong effort to work with Iraqi opposition groups in the run-up to the invasion. State Dept. sponsors trip for imam connected to N.Y. mosque project
  • In a brief question-and-answer session with reporters today, Republican presidential nominee-apparent John McCain downplayed the signficance of increasingly assertive statements by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his government indicating that the Iraqis will not agree to a security agreement with the United States, unless it includes a specific timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. McCain’s Answer to Maliki - Swampland - TIME.com

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