1
as in to understate
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Recent Examples of underplay
However, testimony also revealed text messages and emails between Gray and his supervisors that prosecutors say appeared to underplay the severity of the incident on the day of the shooting.
—
Skyler Henry, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2026
Most importantly, the film tries to underplay the massive identity and religious politics that the Bengal border has seen since the lines were drawn.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
At one point, MacLachlan orchestrates a heart-stopping moment of reckoning for Bill and Tammy, written with a sudden, cathartic directness—a break in their usual language of deferential hesitations—which the actors underplay to perfection.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
None of this is to underplay the value of this agreement to Paramount’s streaming business.
—Josef Adalian, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underplay
Skyler Henry, CBS News, 24 Feb. 2026
Most importantly, the film tries to underplay the massive identity and religious politics that the Bengal border has seen since the lines were drawn.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 23 Nov. 2025
At one point, MacLachlan orchestrates a heart-stopping moment of reckoning for Bill and Tammy, written with a sudden, cathartic directness—a break in their usual language of deferential hesitations—which the actors underplay to perfection.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2025
None of this is to underplay the value of this agreement to Paramount’s streaming business.
—Josef Adalian, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for underplay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for underplay
Verb
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The term historic may be understated for a city that can trace its origins, as a continuous settlement, to the first millennium BCE.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
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Andrew Higgins, an aerospace engineer at McGill University, worries that the LEGO-like way that SR-1 Freedom has been planned—with lots of parts from different, unrelated projects just waiting to be bolted together—vastly understates the challenge ahead.—
David W. Brown,
Scientific American,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Lue has tried to stagger their minutes to not overplay them.—
Janis Carr,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
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One of the dangers with this particular title is that actors overplay, thinking that the show-within-a-show and period style offer some license in that direction.—
Chris Jones,
Chicago Tribune,
18 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Nation-states are highly invested in projecting certain narratives about a war that align with their interests while downplaying contradictory narratives.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Apr. 2026
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Perhaps in response, a Microsoft executive downplayed the company's AI focus last month while talking up major improvements to future Windows 11 updates.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The $20 million construction of Independence Elementary was funded through Idaho House Bill 521, a statewide school facilities package enacted in 2024.—
Noah Daly,
Idaho Statesman,
30 Mar. 2026
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That suspension, which was also enacted after the shooting of the National Guard soldiers in Washington, remains in place.—
Camilo Montoya-Galvez,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Adrien Brody can’t stop overacting in a commercial for TurboTax.—
Dee-Ann Durbin,
Fortune,
8 Feb. 2026
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On-screen, the speech’s prestige can overwhelm its existential subject matter, and the passage tends to get overacted.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
15 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Mia is really acting out her character and has butt pads so lumpy that Michelle Visage got up off her couch to come over to the Hamptons to yell at her.—
Brian Moylan,
Vulture,
25 Mar. 2026
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But gaslighters don't necessarily act out of pure malice, Sweet says.—
Emma Bowman,
NPR,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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With Trump back in office, American audiences are understandably more closely watching films from distant lands that dramatize authoritarianism, seeking clues from those nations’ past to understand our present.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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There was no contradiction for these women in using sacred imagery to dramatize erotic love, or Scripture to sanctify desire.—
Chandler Fritz,
The New York Review of Books,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Scenic designer Matthew Herman created a rectangular center stage with LED panel lighting by Sammy Webster that mimics the flourescent office lights of the past but explodes with color in a surprise dancing-on-the-tables scene.—
Pam Kragen,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
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In addition to structural problems, the sign will also be relit, possibly with LED lights designed to mimic the original neon.—
R. Christian Smith,
Chicago Tribune,
29 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Underplay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underplay. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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