轻描淡写

輕描淡寫

qīngmiáo-dànxiě

idiom #23,135

Meanings

1 to gloss over
2 to play down
3 to understate
4 to treat as trivial
5 to mention only in passing

Characters

light; gentle; trivial

to trace; to depict; to sketch

light; pale; bland

to write; to depict

Examples

他对自己的错误轻描淡写，根本没有道歉。

Tā duì zìjǐ de cuòwù qīngmiáodànxiě, gēnběn méiyǒu dàoqiàn.

He glossed over his mistakes and didn't apologize at all.

不能对这么严重的问题轻描淡写。

Bùnéng duì zhème yánzhòng de wèntí qīngmiáodànxiě.

We cannot play down such a serious problem.

她轻描淡写地提到了这件事。

Tā qīngmiáodànxiě de tídào le zhè jiàn shì.

She mentioned the matter only in passing.

Tips

memory

Literally 'light strokes and pale writing' — imagine a painter touching canvas so lightly that nothing is really shown. The image captures the act of barely addressing something, making it seem lighter than it is.

Stroke Order

轻 qīng

描 miáo

淡 dàn

写 xiě