downgrade

[ doun-greyd ]

noun

1. a downward slope, especially of a road.

adjective

1. downhill.

verb (used with object)

, down·grad·ed, down·grad·ing.

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.).

downgrade

/ ˈdaʊnˌɡreɪd /

verb

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

noun

1. a downward slope, esp in a road
2. on the downgrade
   waning in importance, popularity, health, etc

Other Words From

• downgrader noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of downgrade¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

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

   His career has been on the downgrade.

Example Sentences

For instance, when Hurricane Florence made landfall in North Carolina, it was downgraded to a Category 1 storm, only to tragically stall and dump enough rain to break at least 28 flood records.

From Popular-Science

Laura has now been downgraded to Category 2 storm, but it’s still barreling over Louisiana with winds of 110 mph.

From Popular-Science

The hurricane knocked out power for more than 800,000 people in Louisiana and eastern Texas before it was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday afternoon.

From Quartz

Nearly 40% of students ended up receiving exam scores downgraded from their teachers’ predictions, threatening to cost them their university spots.

From MIT Technology Review

In practice, this means Facebook’s algorithms will no longer recommend users join QAnon groups, and will downgrade the prominence of QAnon in its news feed.

From Fortune

"The Uri Blau conviction as part of a plea bargain alone merits a downgrade," said Omer-Man.

From The Daily Beast

I did The Girlfriend Experience on film and Entourage on television, and to downgrade from that would be silly.

From The Daily Beast

One ratings agency is threatening to downgrade the U.S. if we go over the fiscal cliff.

From The Daily Beast

A ratings downgrade, Bell said, would be the absolute last thing to move the needle as far as urgency over the deficit.

From The Daily Beast

The downgrade probably scores short-term political points for both leaders.

From The Daily Beast

In the general ferment, commercial honesty had been on the downgrade.

From Project Gutenberg

I do not want to downgrade any police department, but this is what happens through no fault of theirs.

From Project Gutenberg

From Houston we turned onto Elm, which was a rather sharp turn with a downgrade, sir.

From Project Gutenberg

The inference is obvious: that the Monarchists are on the upgrade, and the Republicans on the downgrade.

From Project Gutenberg

As he did this the turnout reached a point in the road where the downgrade was greater than ever.

From Project Gutenberg