From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishto put it mildlyto put it mildlyspokenSAY/STATE used to say that you could use much stronger words to describe something Losing two members of staff was unfortunate, to put it mildly. → mildly
Examples from the Corpus
to put it mildly• He's a troubled youngster, to put it mildly.• Unforthcoming, to put it mildly.• But the depth of the dislike of the Tory leadership surprised everybody, to put it mildly.• But the testimony from the High Street is mixed, to put it mildly.• Traveling in pairs out here saves a lot of walking -- to put it mildly.• Tucson audiences are passionate, to put it mildly.• After one hundred days of world peace, all surviving were to put it mildly, a little bothered and regretful.• Barkley, to put it mildly, is a bit more complicated.• On this view there is, to put it mildly, no urgency about a referendum.• The movie contains some scenes that are, to put it mildly, rather difficult to watch. 