disintensify

English

Etymology

From dis- +‎ intense +‎ -ify.

Verb

disintensify (third-person singular simple present disintensifies, present participle disintensifying, simple past and past participle disintensified)

1. To make less intense.
   • 1884, Robert Browning, “A Bean-stripe; also Apple-Eating”, in Ferishtah's Fancies:

     All the same, Of absolute and irretrievable And all-subduing black, — black's soul of black Beyond white's power to disintensify, — Of that I saw no sample : such may wreck My life and ruin my philosophy

   • 1927, Sean O'Casey, The Silver Tassie:

     You know Susie'll have to be told to disintensify her soul-huntin', for religion even isn't an excuse for saying that a man'll become a cockatrice.

   • 2012, Stella Ting-Toomey, Communicating Across Cultures:

     They may also choose to disintensify, neutralize, or dramatize different types of facial expressions to achieve specific interaction outcomes or goals in their particular culture.