play sth up
— phrasal verb with play uk/pleɪ/us/pleɪ/verb
to emphasize a particular quality or part of something, or make it seem more important than it really is, usually for your own advantage:
The official report plays up the likely benefits of the plan, but glosses over the costs.
More examples
- It's said that he plays up his working class background in order to broaden his appeal.
- It would be wise to play up your strengths rather than draw attention to your weaknesses.
- She made herself out to be a real do-gooder, playing up her connection with aid organizations.
- The programme played up the positive benefits of the drug without giving a really honest account of the drawbacks.
- The fact that he was a war veteran was really played up in the election campaign.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Stressing & emphasizing
- accent
- accentuate
- drive
- emphasis
- emphatic
- freaking
- fronting
- gloss
- hammer
- hammer sth home idiom
- howling
- impress sth on/upon sb
- insistence
- place
- play
- point
- point sth out
- point sth up
- should
- underline
See more results »