downdescribing

Downdescribing is a discourse strategy in which a speaker describes a person, object, or situation by downplaying positive attributes or by presenting information in a self-limiting or negative frame. The term contrasts with updescribing, where attributes are highlighted or praised. Downdescribing can be intentional or conventional, arising in everyday conversation, workplace feedback, journalism, and political speech.

Common mechanisms include understatement, litotes (often using double negatives like not bad), negation of praise (not the worst), and the use of neutral or mildly negative adjectives to soften claims. It often operates through hedging, politeness strategies, or irony.

Functions include maintaining face, reducing perceived threat, adapting to audience expectations, or creating humor. In some cultures or contexts, downdescribing can signal modesty or alignment with group norms; in critical discourse, it can downplay problematic aspects while still indicating concern.

Examples include sentences such as: The plan has a few issues, but it’s not without merit. She’s not the type to boast about her achievements. It’s not a bad result.

Relation to fields and concepts: downdescribing is discussed in linguistics and communication studies as part of pragmatics and politeness theory, and is related to hedging, understatement, and euphemism. Critics note that it can obscure problems, mislead audiences, or frustrate readers expecting clear evaluative judgments.