tone down — make something less extreme or forceful (e.g. language, behaviour, appearance)
phrasal verbC1IELTS 7+neutraloccasional
To make something less strong, less forceful, or less noticeable, especially to avoid offending people or to suit a situation.
Say it like a native
Textbook You should moderate the forcefulness of your language.
Native You might want to tone down the language a bit.
'Tone down' is the everyday verb for softening something; 'moderate the forcefulness' is formal.
Pattern: tone down + noun / tone something down
In use
- He had to tone down his criticism so he wouldn't offend anyone at the meeting.communication
- In my opinion, politicians should tone down their language during debates to encourage more respectful discussions.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ Can you tone down it?
✓ Can you tone it down?
With a pronoun, the object goes in the middle: 'tone it down'.
Common collocations
tone down + intensity— the language, the colours, your tone, the rhetoric
Don't confuse it
Unlike the literal use of 'tone' (as in sound), this sense is figurative and refers to reducing the intensity or impact of something, not its volume.