underplaying

verb

present participle of underplay
1
as in understating

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2
as in overplaying

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for underplaying
  1. understating
  2. enacting
  3. downplaying
  4. mimicking
  5. acting out
  6. imitating
  7. taking on
  8. aping
Verb
  • For growing families, there is no understating the importance of the family support system.
    — John Shumway, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The difference between annual inflation and the cumulative effect of inflation over multiple years can create a disconnect, economists say, understating inflation’s impact on consumers.
    — Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 15 July 2026
Definition of understating
Verb
  • Towns and cities are enacting bans on construction seemingly by the day, including in nearby areas in Washington, out of fears of higher electricity bills, pollution and AI taking their jobs.
    — Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN Money, 11 Aug. 2026
  • Licata and his team spent most of the summer enacting sweeping changes, including two separate reductions in force, closing campuses, changing curriculum models and altering how the district’s lowest-performing schools get access to resources.
    — Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of enacting
Verb
  • In Senate hearings, Paul has repeatedly accused Fauci of downplaying the theory that the virus emerged from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan rather than jumping from animals to humans naturally.
    — Joe Walsh, CBS News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics has accused federal leaders of downplaying the risk of measles and offering misinformation about the vaccine that protects against measles, mumps and rubella.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 24 July 2026
Definition of downplaying
Verb
  • The stylists had fun mimicking features from its namesake, Lockheed's legendary Mach-3 Blackbird SR-71 spy plane.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 5 Aug. 2026
  • But creator and co-showrunner Megan Park, whose films The Fallout and My Old Ass displayed deep insight into the inner lives of young women, isn’t mindlessly mimicking the mini-adults of Euphoria and Gossip Girl.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of mimicking
Verb
  • The film’s star, Robin Williams, can be seen acting out a scene with costar Adam Zolotin, who played young Louis.
    — Angela Andaloro, PEOPLE, 30 July 2026
  • Abarca claimed that White was acting out an ongoing vendetta against him.
    — Ilana Arougheti July 21, Kansas City Star, 21 July 2026
Definition of acting out
Verb
  • Later in the game, Cleveland’s José Ramírez was seen in the dugout apparently imitating Yan’s airborne style of rejoicing.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
  • When her mother brought home a Boswell Sisters record, a young Ella Fitzgerald spent hours imitating the group’s front woman, Connee Boswell, in an effort to learn to sing.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of imitating
Verb
  • By taking on the meme generator, Saflor may hit a wall if the court finds that his arguments apply to any meme generator and a finding in his favor could risk undercutting the entire meme ecosystem, Goldman said.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 27 July 2026
  • Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively halted, and significantly lower through the Bab-al-Mandeb strait – with oil tankers unwilling to risk taking on fire from the Iranians and Houthis.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 27 July 2026
Definition of taking on
Verb
  • Critics and fanboy media thrashed Supergirl not just for its Guardians of the Galaxy touchstones, but also for aping Mad Max.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 29 June 2026
  • For Shorts, the label will appear as a small overlay at the bottom of the video itself, although that will add to the already cluttered look of the TikTok-aping Shorts.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
Definition of aping
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Underplaying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/underplaying. Accessed 14 Aug. 2026.

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