Definition

1. Noun:

   • A piano pedal that reduces volume: A lever on a piano, pressed by the foot, that moves the hammers closer to the strings, resulting in a softer, more muted sound.

2. Verb:

   • To make something seem less important or severe: To deliberately downplay, de-emphasize, or reduce the intensity or impact of a statement, issue, or action.

Usage

• As a Noun: Used to refer to the specific leftmost pedal on a standard piano.
• As a Verb: Used figuratively to describe the act of moderating one's tone, rhetoric, or the prominence given to a topic.

Examples

• Noun:
  • For a more delicate passage, the pianist used the soft pedal.
  • The soft pedal mechanism is also called the una corda pedal.
• Verb:
  • The company tried to soft-pedal the news of the executive's resignation.
  • During the interview, she soft-pedaled her criticisms of the previous policy.

Advanced Usage

• "to put the soft pedal on something": To actively de-emphasize or tone down an issue.
  • The government is trying to put the soft pedal on the scandal.

Variants and Related Words

• Soft-pedaling (gerund/noun): The act of downplaying.
  • His soft-pedaling of the risks concerned the investors.
• Una corda (noun): The technical term for the soft pedal's function, meaning "one string" in Italian, as it shifts the hammers so they strike fewer strings.

Synonyms

• Noun: Una corda pedal, mute pedal.
• Verb: Downplay, understate, minimize, de-emphasize, gloss over.

Related Phrases

• Play something down: A phrasal verb with a meaning very similar to the verb "to soft-pedal."
  • He played down his role in the project's success.

Related Idioms

• Pull one's punches: To avoid speaking or acting as forcefully as one could.
  • In her review, she didn't pull her punches; she certainly didn't soft-pedal her opinions.

Noun

1. a pedal on a piano that moves the action closer to the strings and so soften the sound