moderate
Americanadjective
-
kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense.
a moderate price.
-
of medium quantity, extent, or amount.
a moderate income.
- Synonyms:
- average
-
mediocre or fair.
moderate talent.
-
calm or mild, as of the weather.
-
of or relating to moderates, as in politics or religion.
- Antonyms:
- radical
noun
-
moderates
plural
-
a person who is moderate in opinion or opposed to extreme views and actions, especially in politics or religion.
- Antonyms:
- radical
-
(usually initial capital letter) a member of a political party advocating moderate reform.
verb (used with object)
-
moderates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moderated,
past participle, past
-
moderating
present participle
-
to reduce the excessiveness of; make less violent, severe, intense, or rigorous.
to moderate the sharpness of one's words.
-
to preside over or at (a public forum, meeting, discussion, etc.).
verb (used without object)
-
moderates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moderated,
past participle, past
-
moderating
present participle
-
to become less violent, severe, intense, or rigorous.
-
to act as moderator; preside.
adjective
-
not extreme or excessive; within due or reasonable limits
moderate demands
-
not violent; mild or temperate
-
of average quality or extent
moderate success
noun
verb
-
to become or cause to become less extreme or violent
-
to preside over a meeting, discussion, etc
-
to act as an external moderator of the overall standards and marks for (some types of educational assessment)
-
physics to slow down (neutrons), esp by using a moderator
-
(tr) to monitor (the conversations in an on-line chatroom) for bad language, inappropriate content, etc
Synonym Usage
Moderate, temperate, judicious, reasonable all stress the avoidance of excess—emotional, physical, intellectual, or otherwise. Moderate implies response or behavior that is by nature not excessive: a moderate drinker, a moderate amount of assistance. Temperate, interchangeable with moderate in some general uses, usually stresses the idea of caution, control, or self-restraint: a surprisingly temperate response to the angry challenge. Judicious emphasizes prudence and the exercise of careful judgment: a judicious balance between freedom and restraint; judicious care to offend neither side. Reasonable suggests the imposition or adoption of limits derived from the application of reason or good sense: a reasonable price; a reasonable amount of damages allotted to each claimant. See allay.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
moderatesimple
-
moderatessimple
-
have moderatedperfect
-
has moderatedperfect
-
am moderatingprogressive
-
are moderatingprogressive
-
is moderatingprogressive
-
have been moderatingperfect progressive
-
has been moderatingperfect progressive
Past
-
moderatedsimple
-
had moderatedperfect
-
was moderatingprogressive
-
were moderatingprogressive
-
had been moderatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of moderate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English moderate (adjective) moderaten (verb), from Latin moderātus (past participle of moderārī “to mitigate, restrain, control”), equivalent to moderā- verb stem ( see modest) + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
A moderate voter is someone who is politically speaking, in the center. In other words, they are not quite left or right, but somewhere in the middle. Moderate comes from the Latin for "medium sized," and as a noun and an adjective it means "middle, medium." If you get moderate rainfall, it's not too much and not too little. Goldilocks was known for her moderate tastes. As a verb, it means "to temper," or "to reduce from the extreme." If you moderate your speed while driving, you slow down a bit. If you moderate a discussion, you help two or more people have a reasonable conversation.
Vocabulary lists containing moderate
Liberty, Equality, Vocabulary: The French Revolution
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"The Flight of Icarus," Vocabulary from the myth
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"Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan
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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:
"That's not going to appeal to waverers, or to moderate conservatives who might be thinking about defecting."
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026
Drinking moderate amounts, about two to three cups per day, was not associated with harm to bone health.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
Senate, two-term Sen. Ed Markey, an 80-year-old progressive, easily dispatched the more moderate Rep. Seth Moulton, 47.
From Slate ● Sep. 2, 2026
Expect them to run along similar moderate lines as before, pitching themselves as the sensible choice and avoiding too much chatter about their previous losses.
From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026
This closing of the port of Boston was indeed tyranny; this was oppression; this was the last straw upon the back of many a moderate man.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
“It’s not clear that any of these reforms helped elect more moderates or limit polarization,” said Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at UCLA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The same poll found 51% of registered voters in Texas preferred Talarico, as did 63% of moderates.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Then, in the race’s final weeks, two other moderates dropped out and Crowley revived his campaign with the sitting Democratic governor’s endorsement.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
He moderates his earnings forecasts on some revenue slippage into future periods.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
It was obvious that they regarded us, the Rivonia Trialists, as moderates.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
His appearance was moderated by US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who called Huang an "American treasure."
From Barron's ● Sep. 2, 2026
The headline figure is likely to have moderated to 6.0% in August from 6.2% in July, said ANZ Research’s Kausani Basak.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
“In recent months, retail sales growth has moderated, and employment gains have slumped near zero again, consumer sentiment declined in August despite already being near post-war lows, and housing activity remains punk.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
Then on Friday, Lyne will attend a 35mm screening of 2002’s “Unfaithful” with a Q&A moderated by podcaster and film historian Karina Longworth.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Time had moderated his early impulse for growth and he was a man of average height marked by smallpox scars, but his amazing power for manual destruction remained intact.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Welker is an award-winning journalist who earned bipartisan praise after moderating a 2020 presidential debate featuring Trump and Joe Biden, the Democrat who won that year's election.
From Barron's ● Aug. 30, 2026
The man has achieved significant political capital without moderating anything he stands for.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
Candidates could consider moderating their message to attract orphaned voters, though that can be perilous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Outside of moderating gas prices, the jobs market has shown signs of stabilizing, with May marking its best three-month stretch in more than two years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
Nye is a short, short- tempered man who has difficulty moderating his aggressive vigor, his talent for language both sharp and outspoken.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Definitions 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.
