downgrade

American  

[doun-greyd] / ˈdaʊnˌgreɪd /

noun

1. a downward slope, especially of a road.

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adjective

1. downhill.

verb (used with object)

downgraded, downgrading

1. to assign to a lower status with a smaller salary.

2. to minimize the importance of; denigrate.

   She tried to downgrade the findings of the investigation.

3. to assign a lower security classification to (information, a document, etc.).

idioms

1. on the downgrade, in a decline toward an inferior state or position.

   His career has been on the downgrade.

downgrade British  

/ ˈdaʊnˌɡreɪd /

verb

1. to reduce in importance, esteem, or value, esp to demote (a person) to a poorer job

2. to speak of disparagingly

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noun

1. a downward slope, esp in a road

2. waning in importance, popularity, health, etc

Other Word Forms

• downgrader noun

Etymology

Origin of downgrade

An Americanism dating back to 1855–60; down ¹ + grade

Example Sentences

It would simply impose artificial scarcity, requiring professors to downgrade excellent work to satisfy a statistical distribution.

From The Wall Street Journal

The committee didn’t include any hard data about how prevalent downgrading was, though that may come in a final report.

From The Wall Street Journal

That risk was highlighted on Dec. 14, when a KeyBanc analyst downgraded Adobe to Underweight from Sector Weight while maintaining a $310 price target.

From Barron's

While the stock had gained 69% over the course of his bullish call, the downgrade proved premature, with the stock tacking on another 28% in gains since then.

From MarketWatch

While the stock had gained 69% over the course of his bullish call, the downgrade proved premature, with the stock tacking on another 28% in gains since then.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• degrade
• demote
• devalue
• reduce
• undervalue