MINIMIZE

v. 1 reduce, shrink, lessen, diminish, prune, abbreviate, pare (down), cut (down), curtail, abridge, shorten, decrease, minify Our stringent safety measures minimize the chance of an accident 2 belittle, de-emphasize, downplay, play down, make little or light of, disparage, decry, deprecate, depreciate, misprize or misprise, devalue, devaluate, undervalue, underrate, underestimate, US talk down Being modest, she minimizes her role in the organization