: to act or present (a role, a scene, etc.) with restraint : play down
2
: to play a card lower than (a held high card)
Example Sentences
Don't underplay the importance of exercise. I thought she underplayed her character.
Recent Examples on the WebPro-life activists backing the amendment have used that technicality to underplay the possibility of an outright ban. Joel Mathis, The Week, 23 July 2022 The students Cruzvergara work with often underplay their non-job experiences.Fortune, 1 June 2022 Williams added that social media can also underplay the seriousness of many procedures.NBC News, 27 Apr. 2022 The rest of Joanna’s coworkers are tormentors, banal ones, with several actors making the strange choice to somewhat underplay their roles, allowing scenes to sag while Bayer vamps. Daniel D'addario, Variety, 26 Apr. 2022 But to look at the current race to undermine reproductive freedom and the massive resistance to the existence of LGBTQ people as a legislative campaign is, unfortunately, to underplay the aims of the right. Melissa Gira Grant, The New Republic, 6 Apr. 2022 Smit-McPhee, who first gained notice in 2009's The Road, was well served by his instinct to underplay Peter — a shy teenager who becomes an object of spite for a toxic cowboy (Benedict Cumberbatch) running a ranch in rural Montana in the 1920s. Mary Sollosi, EW.com, 15 Oct. 2021 It’s not a network decision to underplay celebrity presence. Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 30 June 2021 The Quinnipiac poll might actually underplay the size of belief in aliens. Zachary B. Wolf, CNN, 5 June 2021 See More