as in criticism
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in minimizing
to reduce in apparent importance
she politely tries to soft-pedal her accomplishments when talking to less fortunate people
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for soft-pedaling
Noun
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Then came subsequent criticism about her selection for the 2024 Women’s Olympic team – especially considering Caitlin Clark’s absence – followed by her Las Vegas Aces’ loss in the 2024 WNBA Finals.—
C. Isaiah Smalls II,
Miami Herald,
22 Mar. 2025 -
There have been many waves of criticism, pointing out the impossibility of carrying out the test in a precise or useful way.—
Jaron Lanier,
The New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2025
Verb
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This approach ensures a steady cash flow by minimizing overdue payments and reduces the risk of bad debt through proactive monitoring and segmentation.—
Ashish Srimal,
Forbes,
27 Dec. 2024
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These plans ensure that if a breach occurs, the response is swift, organized and transparent, minimizing damage and protecting customer data.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes,
26 Dec. 2024
Verb
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Modi and many of his BJP allies have spent years demonizing cow-killers while at the same time downplaying lynching reports.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
2 Jan. 2025
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Another option— downplaying the captivity— wasn’t viable in a pre-cable era when the most trusted man in America, Walter Cronkite, reminded viewers every night on the CBS Evening News exactly how many days the hostages had been held.—
Jonathan Alter,
TIME,
29 Dec. 2024
Noun
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As news of the article's removal drew widespread condemnation on social media, Ullyot released a statement attempting to explain the administration's rationale.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
21 Mar. 2025
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Mahmoud Khalil's detention by ICE agents supervised by the White House has drawn widespread condemnation from civil rights and legal advocacy groups.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA TODAY,
18 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The company stuck to its core DVD rental model while dismissing opportunities to innovate on the periphery.—
ByMargie Warrell,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
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Top Stories Just before Christmas, Biden egregiously commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 death row inmates, dismissing years of careful work by prosecutors, judges, and juries.—
The Editors,
National Review,
6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Cuban independent media have provided the type of watchdog journalism that state outlets are forbidden to do, often forcing the government to respond to denunciations first covered in their reporting.—
Nora Gámez Torres,
Miami Herald,
28 Feb. 2025
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Its political figures — particularly Gov. Gavin Newsom, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senator-elect Adam Schiff — have sought and achieved notoriety for their public denunciations of Trump.—
Dan Walters,
The Mercury News,
8 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Fox News was first to report the censure resolution.—
Andrew Solender,
Axios,
25 Mar. 2025
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The Washington Examiner obtained the text of the censure resolution.—
Ross O'Keefe,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
25 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Such invective, coming from a saboteur with firsthand experience of institutional prudishness, put DeGenevieve in a paradoxical position: that of a professor who, because she was tenured, had the luxury of deriding her own ivory tower.—
Jeremy Lybarger,
Artforum,
1 Feb. 2025
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Yet some of us in the audience, disgusted by the persistence of Nazism and anti-immigrant invective in the present, may well appreciate the force of McQueen’s rhetoric.—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
25 Oct. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Soft-pedaling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/soft-pedaling. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
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