Synonyms and antonyms of To make something seem less important or special in British Thesaurus

play down ()

to try to make a problem or difficult situation seem less important than it is

minimize (verb)

to make something seem much less important than it really is

downplay (verb)

to deliberately make a situation seem less serious or important than it is

trivialize (verb)

to make something seem less important or serious than it really is

understate (verb)

to say that something is less important, serious, big etc than it really is

downgrade (verb)

to treat something in a way that shows that you think it is now less important than it was

eclipse (verb)

to make someone or something seem less successful or important, by becoming more successful or important than they are

lessen (verb)

to become smaller in amount, level, importance etc or make something do this

detract from ()

to make something seem less good, attractive, or important

overshadow (verb)

to make someone or something seem less important compared to someone or something else

belittle (verb)

to say or think that someone or something is unimportant or not very good

depreciate (verb)

formal to make something seem less important than it really is

derogate from (formal)

formal to make something seem less good, attractive, or important

devalue (verb)

to treat someone or something as if they are not important

diminish (verb)

to deliberately make someone or something seem less important than they really are

dwarf (verb)

to make something seem small or unimportant

sell someone short ()

to describe someone or something as less impressive than they really are

soft-pedal (verb)

to make something seem less important or less unpleasant than it really is

take the gloss off something ()

to make something seem not as good as you thought it was

trivialise ()

a British spelling of trivialize

underplay (verb)

to make something seem less important or serious than it really is