play down

play down idiom
  1. Make little of, minimize the importance of, as in A skillful salesman plays down the drawbacks of the product and emphasizes its good features. [First half of 1900s]
  2. play down to. Lower one's standards to meet the demands of someone, as in Some stand-up comics deliberately play down to the vulgar taste of their audiences. [Late 1800s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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