soft-pedal verb - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of soft-pedal verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

soft-pedal

verb

[transitive, intransitive] soft-pedal (on) something (informal)Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they soft-pedal

he / she / it soft-pedals

past simple soft-pedaled (Canadian English usually)soft-pedalled

-ing form soft-pedaling (Canadian English usually)soft-pedalling

to treat something as less serious or important than it really is Television has been accused of soft-pedaling bad news.

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