soft-pedal

 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++朗文当代英语 5++LDOCE 5++朗文 5++ˌsoft-ˈpedal verb (soft-pedalled, soft-pedalling British English, soft-pedaled, soft-pedaling American English) [transitive]  informalUNIMPORTANT to make something seem less important or less urgent than it really is 使显得不那么重要[紧迫]，淡化→ See Verb table

Examples from the Corpus

soft-pedal• The studios soft-pedal the rivalry between their animation departments.

ˌsoft-ˈpedal verbChineseSyllable  

something less less seem to or important Corpus make

soft-pedal
ˌsoft-ˈpedal verb (past tense and past participle soft-pedalled, present participle soft-pedalling British English, soft-pedaled, soft-pedaling American English) [transitive]
informal to make something seem less important or less urgent than it really is

soft-pedalBrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedl/ 🔊NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedl/ 🔊 verbpresent simple - I / you / we / they soft-pedal BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedl/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedl/ 🔊present simple - he / she / it soft-pedals BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedəlz/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəlz/ 🔊past simple soft-pedalled BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ 🔊past participle soft-pedalled BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ 🔊past simple (US) soft-pedaled BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ 🔊past participle (US) soft-pedaled BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ 🔊 -ing form soft-pedalling BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedəlɪŋ/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəlɪŋ/ 🔊 -ing form (US) soft-pedaling BrE /ˌsɒft ˈpedəlɪŋ/ 🔊 NAmE /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəlɪŋ/ 🔊 [transitive, intransitive] ~ (on) sth (informal) to treat sth as less serious or important than it really is 低调处理；降低…的调门；对…轻描淡写◆Television has been accused of soft-pedalling bad news. 有人指责电视对坏消息轻描淡写。🔊🔊