How to Use de-emphasize in a Sentence

de-emphasize

verb
  • Beginnings and endings, as well as the tops and tails of acts, are de-emphasized.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 13 Oct. 2023
  • But Shapiro de-emphasizes the rules of Judaism.
    — Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic, 27 Jan. 2026
  • The thing about spelling is that orthography seems to have become de-emphasized over the years.
    — Robert Klose, The Christian Science Monitor, 13 Sep. 2023
  • Another way to de-emphasize appearance is to choose their clothes for function as well as or even instead of form.
    — Virginia Sole-Smith, Parents, 29 Sep. 2023
  • When implemented in sports, kaizen de-emphasizes the game’s outcome.
    — Nicole Yang, BostonGlobe.com, 16 Apr. 2023
  • But she was frustrated by the gallery’s refusal to show her drawings, which would have de-emphasized her image as a sculptor.
    — Hilarie M. Sheets, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2025
  • At the very least, players and parents feel the university is de-emphasizing its support for lacrosse.
    — Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 27 May 2026
  • The Vance approach de-emphasizes peoples' roles as consumers, as opposed to workers.
    — Neil Irwin, Axios, 17 July 2024
  • Some pitchers will de-emphasize their breaking pitches at Coors Field because of the effects of the altitude.
    — Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 26 June 2025
  • The mountain of evidence backing the health perks of the Mediterranean diet—one that highlights plant foods and fish, and de-emphasizes red and processed meats—just grew again.
    — Erica Sloan, SELF, 25 Aug. 2025
  • The statement also de-emphasizes language toward tech and high-end manufacturing.
    — Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
  • And Leventhal himself has de-emphasized the app’s crypto nature in favor of a more holistic vision for the company.
    — Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 31 July 2024
  • Our tactile and sensory life has been de-emphasized in favor of ideas, symbols, accomplishments, and abstractions.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 16 June 2026
  • Matthew believes making wrestling a family thing has helped Justice by de-emphasizing the pressure that comes with competing in such an intense one-on-one sport.
    — Ryan McFadden, The Denver Post, 15 Feb. 2024
  • Hill is shifting Nike back to sports, a priority that was de-emphasized under its former CEO.
    — Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 27 June 2025
  • This isn’t surprising considering that offenses have de-emphasized throwing the ball downfield in favor of keeping the chains moving.
    — Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 12 Oct. 2024
  • Cursive has been out of vogue for 15 years, after schools began adopting a Common Core curriculum, which de-emphasized the writing style.
    — Chris Morris, Fortune, 26 June 2025
  • Many schools have already begun to de-emphasize the need for standardizing testing; others are taking the stronger step to get rid of legacy admissions, which favor the children of alumni.
    — Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 29 June 2023
  • However, Sempra is in the process of de-emphasizing its LNG investments.
    — Rob Nikolewski, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 May 2026
  • Cyberlink de-emphasizes the automatic, easy movie project tools, instead focusing on serious full-power video editing.
    — PC Magazine, 15 Nov. 2025
  • Electric vehicles drew attention but were slighty de-emphasized at this year's Milwaukee Auto Show.
    — Ricardo Torres, jsonline.com, 1 Mar. 2025
  • But over the course of last year, the board repeatedly discussed the content of the class with Florida officials, who objected to specific ideas that were later removed or de-emphasized.
    — Stephanie Saul, New York Times, 24 Apr. 2023
  • Starting next January, any automaker that wants their motor vehicles to ace the group’s safety test will need to add more physical buttons and de-emphasize touch-sensitive controls.
    — Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 6 Mar. 2024
  • The campaign used accounts with the same name as the organization in what appeared to be an effort to trigger Twitter’s policy to de-emphasize inauthentic campaigns.
    — Steven Lee Myers, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2023
  • The Giants also appear to be de-emphasizing Dart as a runner to keep him healthy, which could lead to him getting a higher volume of passing attempts in Week 15.
    — Jacob Camenker, USA Today, 14 Dec. 2025
  • Old-line liberals have blasted the democratic socialist for de-emphasizing a police presence in favor of volunteers and contract workers armed with little more than overdose kits, notepads and phone numbers.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026
  • Society has to encourage learning alongside and after formal education, de-emphasize risks of embarrassment, and celebrate the joy that comes with being seen and understood.
    — Olivia Antigua, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025
  • Instead, most of them promise to refine the experience by adding features that are typical for other mixed-reality platforms and refocusing on the wins the platform has had, de-emphasizing the misses.
    — Samuel Axon, ArsTechnica, 9 June 2025
  • He's made more than 60 appearances each of the last two seasons, and was much better for the Astros after the trade with the Yankees, de-emphasizing his four-seam fastball and increasing his breaking ball usage.
    — Paul Du Quenoy, Newsweek, 9 Jan. 2025
  • Several of the reform proposals would de-emphasize the role of high-impact journals that charge pricey APCs as gatekeepers of quality in scientific scholarship.
    — Byjeffrey Brainard, science.org, 1 Aug. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'de-emphasize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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