de-emphasize
/diːˈɛmfəsʌɪz
/(also de-emphasise)
verb [with object]
Reduce the importance or prominence given to (something): commentators tend to de-emphasize parental culpability...
- Like the House of Lords the Court has de-emphasized the notion of parental ‘rights’ in the determination of these questions.
- Stewart would be unwise to rule out this strategy as a tool for delivering value but could reduce investor concern considerably by de-emphasising it for now and undertaking to deliver organic growth as a first priority.
- Groves believes that the Flores pygmies display prognathism - a prominent mouth that de-emphasizes the chin.
Derivatives
de-emphasis
- Housing activists say that the change indicates a de-emphasis on affordable housing.
- This approach, coupled with Confucian conservatism and formality, has led to a deliberate de-emphasis of humor.
- A loss of the feminine and its importance in the economy of salvation is part of the legacy of the Protestant Reformation and its de-emphasis of the iconic elements of faith.