downplay

Synthetic form of the phrase play down. By surface analysis, down- +‎ play.

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downplay (third-person singular simple present downplays, present participle downplaying, simple past and past participle downplayed)

1. (transitive) To de-emphasize; to present or portray as less important or consequential.

   He would sometimes downplay his Princeton education by saying simply that he went to school in New Jersey.

• The synonymous alternative form play down is slightly more formal, or slightly less informal.

• play down
• trivialize
• understate

• play down, playdown