0 present participle of downplay --
1 to make something seem less important or less bad than it really is: --
The government has been trying to downplay the crisis.
Similarly, practically all women who came of age in the inter-war years, whether writing in 1969 or 1980, tell stories about leisure, fun and entertainment, downplaying their workplace experiences.
Campbell follows the conventional wisdom in downplaying the problem represented by irregularity.
But in downplaying the significance of the expedition in this manner both authors are in the difficult position of downplaying the sheer extent of nineteenth-century developments, regardless of their causes.
In fact, in recent years, conventional evolutionary theory has if anything, been further downplaying the role of phenotypes, sometimes reducing phenotypes to mere "vehicles" for their genes.
I would interpret this as a general downplaying of the competitive elements and an increasing orientation towards cultural solidarity.
Why there should be this downplaying of the nationalist thrust is hard to say.
The recent legislation promoting collaboration and downplaying competition seems to move in this direction.
Focusing on big events, and downplaying our ability to predict means-ends relationships, ought to move our political beliefs closer together.
