soft-pedal
verb /ˌsɒft ˈpedl/
/ˌsɔːft ˈpedl/
[transitive, intransitive] (informal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they soft-pedal | /ˌsɒft ˈpedl/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedl/ |
| he / she / it soft-pedals | /ˌsɒft ˈpedəlz/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəlz/ |
| past simple soft-pedalled | /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ |
| past participle soft-pedalled | /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ |
| (US English) past simple soft-pedaled | /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ |
| (US English) past participle soft-pedaled | /ˌsɒft ˈpedəld/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedəld/ |
| -ing form soft-pedalling | /ˌsɒft ˈpedlɪŋ/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedlɪŋ/ |
| (US English) -ing form soft-pedaling | /ˌsɒft ˈpedlɪŋ/ /ˌsɔːft ˈpedlɪŋ/ |
- soft-pedal (on) something to treat something as less serious or important than it really is
- Television has been accused of soft-pedalling bad news.