play up
• emphasize or exaggerate the extent or importance of something.
• "the mystery surrounding his death was played up by the media"
Similar:
emphasize,
put/lay emphasis on,
accentuate,
bring/draw/call attention to,
focus attention on,
point up,
underline,
underscore,
highlight,
spotlight,
foreground,
feature,
give prominence to,
bring to the fore,
heighten,
stress,
accent,
• (of a child) misbehave.
• "I hadn't had much sleep—the kids had been playing up"
• put all one's energy into a game.
• "the captain told his team to play up"
