downgrade
/ˈdaʊnˌɡɹeɪd/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.23 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
2
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating.
verb
To reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts; to dumb down.
Example Sentences
- "[...] dynamic braking is fitted to the 99-ton, 55 ft.-long locomotives to help control these otherwise vacuum-braked trains on the long, continuous downgrades encountered on the coastal route."
- "Near-synonyms: degradation, worsening, deterioration"
- "The stock was downgraded from ‘buy’ to ‘sell’."
- "Basingstoke-Exeter will test this. From Salisbury westwards, it's largely single-track since British Rail downgraded it in 1967. There's a ten-mile loop between Templecombe and Yeovil, as well as shorter loops at Chard, Axminster and Honiton."
- "More significantly, rigid deference to [Justin] Bieber’s still-young core fan base keeps things resolutely PG, with any acknowledgement of sex either couched in vague “touch your body” workarounds or downgraded to desirous hand-holding and eye-gazing."
- "We cannot afford to downgrade the lifestyles of other lesbians; we cannot afford to portray lesbians thinly as drunken and bothersome separatists who push their views on "work-within-the-movement" dykes"."
Etymology
From down- + grade.