← Back to Fala2Me

downplay urgency

[daʊnˈpleɪ ˈɜrdʒənsi]
verb phrase
minimizar a urgência
1. to make something seem less urgent or important than it actually is; to represent a matter as less pressing or critical
The manager tried to downplay urgency of the deadline to avoid stressing the team.
O gerente tentou minimizar a urgência do prazo para evitar estressar a equipe.
2. to deliberately reduce the perceived importance or time-sensitivity of a situation
She chose to downplay urgency in her email to keep things calm.
Ela escolheu minimizar a urgência em seu e-mail para manter as coisas calmas.
NYC Slang
play it cool / chill it out
Synonyms
minimize urgencyreduce urgencymake light ofdowngrade importanceplay downunderstatesoft-pedal
Antonyms
stress urgencyemphasize urgencyheighten urgencyexaggerate importanceoverstateunderline criticality

Regional Variations

General Brazilian
minimizar a urgência
most common usage in Brazilian Portuguese
São Paulo
downplayar a urgência / tirar importância da urgência
informal usage with English loanword or colloquial alternative
Portugal
minimizar a urgência / reduzir a importância
formal register; European Portuguese preference

Related Idioms & Phrases

make a mountain out of a molehill (opposite)
not a big deal
no sweat
keep your cool
don't sweat it
Look up more words on Fala2Me
The free English-Portuguese dictionary with real Brazilian accents, NYC slang, conjugator and more
Open Fala2Me →