phrasal verb · neutral
make light of
/meɪk ˈlaɪt əv/MAKE·LIGHT·of
speakingtask2
to treat something as if it is not serious or important
Examples
“Don't make light of his achievements; he worked very hard.”
“She made light of the injury, saying she'd be fine in a day.”
“The manager made light of the complaint, which upset the staff.”
Band 8 sentence
“It was unwise of the director to make light of the safety warnings; staff morale fell afterwards.”
Collocations
- make light of + noun/ -ing
Word family
make verblight noun/adjective
Common mistakes
take light of→make light of
make light on→make light of
Say it for a higher band
5ignore→6play down→7+make light of
Synonyms
play down
Easily confused
play down
“The spokesperson tried to play down the significance of the incident.”
Related words
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