demote
Americanverb (used with object)
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demotes,
present (3rd person singular)
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demoted,
past participle, past
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demoting
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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demotesimple
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demotessimple
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have demotedperfect
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has demotedperfect
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am demotingprogressive
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are demotingprogressive
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is demotingprogressive
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have been demotingperfect progressive
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has been demotingperfect progressive
Past
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demotedsimple
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had demotedperfect
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was demotingprogressive
-
were demotingprogressive
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had been demotingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of demote
Explanation
To demote someone is to move them into a less important job. Your coffee shop boss might demote you to wiping tables if your attempts to froth milk and pull espresso shots continuously fail. When your employer demotes you, she assigns you an easier task or even an entirely new, lower-ranked position. You may even earn less money. In the military, to demote is to move a soldier down in rank, usually as a punishment. The opposite of demote is promote, which came first. The prefix de- gives the word a sense of "down" or "down from."
Vocabulary lists containing demote
Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie
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They Both Die at the End
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Vocabulary from the Twelfth Republican Debate, March 10, 2016
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Ahead of the first-round vote earlier this month, Bolsonaro fiercely denied a rumor that he planned to demote Brazil's beloved patron saint, Our Lady of Aparecida, if elected.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
The Pentagon has since tried in vain to demote his military rank and a grand jury have declined to charge him with seditious conspiracy.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
Kelly filed a lawsuit in January that accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of violating his First Amendment rights by moving to formally censure him and demote him over the video.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
Hegseth issued a letter of censure against the retired Navy veteran and announced the Department of Defense would decide whether to demote Kelly and reduce his pension in the coming weeks.
From Salon ● Jan. 12, 2026
In a furious squabble of accusation and recrimination he would demote officers and promote the most unlikely soldiers from the ranks.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
The Company rakes her over the coals, demotes her, and doesn’t believe her report about an alien creature that has a razor-sharp tail, knife-like teeth and highly caustic acid for blood.
From Salon ● Jul. 4, 2025
The win, Saints' ninth of the season, demotes Wigan Warriors into second place, however Matt Peet's side now have two games in hand on their rivals.
From BBC ● May 24, 2024
Facebook said it also demotes content from news publishers that users rate as untrusted in surveys and content posted by pages or accounts that repeatedly violate its rules.
From Reuters ● Sep. 23, 2021
It dwarfs those who view it, which not only inflates the power of the thing represented but also demotes the individual power of the spectator.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 4, 2020
Of course, as soon as Coleman demotes him we know his resentment will boil over.
From New York Times ● Jul. 5, 2016
Two veteran FBI counterterrorism officials were demoted after investigators determined allegedly harassing calls to a top White House aide’s wife did not warrant further investigation, according to multiple reports.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Being removed from the Premier League would mean City lose their membership and are demoted to a lower division from the end of the season.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Like so many since, he was crushed by Max Verstappen, and demoted back to the second team after half a season.
From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026
The senior pilot assigned the Sunday shift was demoted to patrol duty by Nanos days earlier.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Even though there were lots of hints all summer long, I hadn’t really figured out that I’d been demoted to Annoying Younger Brother.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
The EU said Google abused its market dominance as a search engine by promoting its own comparison-shopping service in search results and demoting those of competitors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
The European Commission said Google is demoting media publishers' websites and content in search results when they include content from commercial partners, such as sponsored editorial pieces.
From Barron's ● Nov. 13, 2025
The mayor said she was demoting Crowley for failing to inform her about the dangerous conditions or to activate hundreds of firefighters ahead of the blaze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2025
The Briton was controversially penalised at Sunday's United States Grand Prix, demoting him from third to fourth behind Verstappen, for overtaking off track.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2024
He regarded this as a slight, that I was in effect demoting him, and he refused, choosing instead to run for the presidency himself.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
