All soft-pedal synonyms

verb soft-pedal

• fine tune — to tune (a radio or television receiver) to produce the optimum reception for the desired station or channel by adjusting a control knob or bar.
• laid back — relaxed or unhurried: laid-back music rhythms.
• cool off — If someone or something cools off, or if you cool them off, they become cooler after having been hot.
• calm — A calm person does not show or feel any worry, anger, or excitement.
• lay back — to put or place in a horizontal position or position of rest; set down: to lay a book on a desk.
• dummy up — a representation or copy of something, as for displaying to indicate appearance: a display of lipstick dummies made of colored plastic.
• alleviate — If you alleviate pain, suffering, or an unpleasant condition, you make it less intense or severe.
• mute — silent; refraining from speech or utterance.
• hold one's tongue — Anatomy. the usually movable organ in the floor of the mouth in humans and most vertebrates, functioning in eating, in tasting, and, in humans, in speaking.
• cool out — to relax and cool down
• downing — a downward movement; descent.
• dry up — free from moisture or excess moisture; not moist; not wet: a dry towel; dry air.
• ease off — freedom from labor, pain, or physical annoyance; tranquil rest; comfort: to enjoy one's ease.
• lull — to put to sleep or rest by soothing means: to lull a child by singing.
• humoring — a comic, absurd, or incongruous quality causing amusement: the humor of a situation.
• dulling — not sharp; blunt: a dull knife.
• humouring — humor.
• downed — from higher to lower; in descending direction or order; toward, into, or in a lower position: to come down the ladder.
• make light of — of little weight; not heavy: a light load.
• downs — from higher to lower; in descending direction or order; toward, into, or in a lower position: to come down the ladder.
• kiss and make up — be reconciled
• be-little — to regard or portray as less impressive or important than appearances indicate; depreciate; disparage.
• gloss — an explanation or translation, by means of a marginal or interlinear note, of a technical or unusual expression in a manuscript text.
• lessen — to become less.
• quiet — making no noise or sound, especially no disturbing sound: quiet neighbors.
• deescalate — To decrease in intensity or magnitude.
• de-escalate — to reduce the level or intensity of (a crisis, etc)
• hold down — to have or keep in the hand; keep fast; grasp: She held the purse in her right hand. He held the child's hand in his.
• overawe — to restrain or subdue by inspiring awe; intimidate: He often uses that imperious scowl to overawe his subordinates.
• quieten — to become quiet (often followed by down).
• clam up — If someone clams up, they stop talking, often because they are shy or to avoid giving away secrets.
• muffle — to wrap with something to deaden or prevent sound: to muffle drums.
• gloss over — an explanation or translation, by means of a marginal or interlinear note, of a technical or unusual expression in a manuscript text.
• cool it — If you tell someone to cool it, you want them to stop being angry and aggressive and to behave more calmly.
• moderate — kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense: a moderate price.
• choke off — To choke off financial growth means to restrict or control the rate at which a country's economy can grow.
• balmed — simple past tense and past participle of balm.
• die down — If something dies down, it becomes very much quieter or less intense.
• cover up — If you cover something or someone up, you put something over them in order to protect or hide them.
• overawed — Impress (someone) so much that they become silent or inhibited.
• humored — a comic, absurd, or incongruous quality causing amusement: the humor of a situation.
• debrief — When someone such as a soldier, diplomat, or astronaut is debriefed, they are asked to give a report on an operation or task that they have just completed.
• deemphasize — to place less emphasis upon; reduce in importance, size, scope, etc.: The university de-emphasized intercollegiate football.
• make peace — the normal, nonwarring condition of a nation, group of nations, or the world.
• whites — of the color of pure snow, of the margins of this page, etc.; reflecting nearly all the rays of sunlight or a similar light.
• whiting — a slender food fish of the genus Menticirrhus, of the croaker family, inhabiting waters along the Atlantic coast of North America.
• make little of — small in size; not big; not large; tiny: a little desk in the corner of the room.
• minify — to make less.
• inactivate — to make inactive: The bomb was inactivated.
• close up — If someone closes up a building, they shut it completely and securely, often because they are going away.