tone down

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tone down (third-person singular simple present tones down, present participle toning down, simple past and past participle toned down)

1. (transitive, intransitive, idiomatic) To relax; to make quieter or less obtrusive; to make milder.

   Ask them to tone down that orange and pink color scheme a bit.

   I hope they’ll tone it down and stop arguing so much.

   • 1849 July, Charles Kingsley, “North Devon”, in Prose Idylls, New and Old, London: Macmillan and Co., published 1873, →OCLC, page 265:

     There it all lay beneath us like a map; its thousand hues toned down harmoniously by the summer haze, and 'the eye was not filled with seeing,' nor the spirit with the intoxicating sight of infinitely various life and form in perfectest repose.

2. To moderate or relax; to diminish or weaken the striking characteristics of; to soften.
   • 1858, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter VI, in History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty. , volume I, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, →OCLC, book I, page 218:

     The best method for the purpose in hand was to employ some one of a character and position suited to get possession of their confidence, and then use it to tone down their religious strictness, and, if circumstances should favor, to disturb the ecclesiastical constitution which they had set up.

3. To make a television program, piece of writing, etc. less offensive and so more suitable for a family audience.

• water down

• downtone, note down