soft-pedal

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See also: soft pedal

English

Etymology

From soft pedal (leftmost foot-pedal on most pianos which, when pushed, dampens the strings and so softens the note played, noun).[1]

Pronunciation

Verb

soft-pedal (third-person singular simple present soft-pedals, present participle (UK) soft-pedalling or (US) soft-pedaling, simple past and past participle (UK) soft-pedalled or (US) soft-pedaled)

  1. (transitive)
    1. To reduce the volume of (music, a sound, etc.).
    2. (figuratively) To reduce the force or impact of (something); to damp, to mute; especially, to minimize the less desirable aspects of (something); to play down, to tone down.
      Synonyms: de-emphasize, downplay
      Antonyms: emphasize, highlight, spotlight
    3. (figuratively) To attempt to persuade someone about (something) through understatement, so that the listener accepts the good points as obvious.
      Coordinate term: soft-sell
  2. (intransitive, figuratively) Chiefly followed by on: to act in a less assertive or forceful manner.

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ soft-pedal, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; soft-pedal, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.