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
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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)
-
to reduce the excessiveness of; make less violent, severe, intense, or rigorous.
to moderate the sharpness of one's words.
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to preside over or at (a public forum, meeting, discussion, etc.).
verb (used without object)
-
to become less violent, severe, intense, or rigorous.
-
to act as moderator; preside.
adjective
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not extreme or excessive; within due or reasonable limits
moderate demands
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not violent; mild or temperate
-
of average quality or extent
moderate success
noun
verb
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to become or cause to become less extreme or violent
-
to preside over a meeting, discussion, etc
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to act as an external moderator of the overall standards and marks for (some types of educational assessment)
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physics to slow down (neutrons), esp by using a moderator
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(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
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moderatesimple
-
moderatessimple
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have moderatedperfect
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has moderatedperfect
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am moderatingprogressive
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are moderatingprogressive
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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:
Slightly more moderate versions focus on recent migrants or those not fully integrated into European societies.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Our findings support moderate coffee consumption for people who already enjoy and tolerate it well," said study senior author Ju Dong Yang, MD, medical director of the Liver Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
According to the NHS, adults aged 65 and over should aim to be physically active every day and complete "at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
In China, it expects regulatory changes to moderate volume growth and hurt selling prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
By spreading relatively moderate losses among many big companies, North Korea concealed how bad a risk it was.
From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden
But any nominee will have to unite Platner's wounded supporters with moderates, independents and women voters wary of a party that just watched its chosen candidate implode.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
But it’s true that some moderates are feeling burned.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
Then again, even for many Colombian moderates, the alternative is unthinkable.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 14, 2026
“As Netflix’s content slate ramps up again, we suspect this concern moderates once again.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026
The prospect of a united front between Africans and Indians, between moderates and radicals, greatly worried them.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The New York Times heralded Mullin’s “warmer and fuzzier tone” during his confirmation hearing as a “sign that the administration wants to project a more moderated approach.”
From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026
Nantucket has a relatively mild climate, with temperatures moderated by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf Stream, drawing comparisons to certain islands of Scotland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
The health benefits of tea are clear, but its consumption in processed forms like bottled tea and bubble tea should be moderated due to added sugars and preservatives.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 9, 2026
He has moderated his early calls for "radical change" and told AFP he wants a "respectful" relationship with US President Donald Trump.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
She gave him a little horn cup containing a hot potion whose bitterness was moderated by honey, and presently he lay back and fell deeply asleep.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
For workers, companies’ moderating budgets for pay increases show the price of hunkering down at their current job.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 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
All these challenges will result in worldwide GDP growth moderating from 3.3% in 2025 to 2.9% in 2026, according to the OECD.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
To avoid this, tech companies would either need to respond by banning any user-generated posts or severely moderating them.
From Salon ● Apr. 16, 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.
