/ Thesaurus / P Synonyms of play down Find synonyms for: Verb1. background, play down, downplay, stress, emphasize, emphasise, punctuate, accent, accentuateusage: understate the importance or quality of; "he played down his royal ancestry"WordNet 3.0 Copyright © 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Related Content Daily Word Quiz: diaphanous Analogy of the Day: Today’s Analogy Spelling Bee: Today’s Spelling Bee Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language