RACHET Synonyms: 75 Similar and Opposite Words

ratchet (down)

verb

variants also rachet (down)

Definition of ratchet (down)

as in to decrease

to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually news stories about the kidnapping will ratchet down as the weeks go by

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ratchet (down)

Verb

Winds will very slowly decrease late Saturday night into early Sunday morning behind the cold front.

— CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 11 Sep. 2026
What else changes Although officer staffing has fallen in recent years, violent crime has also decreased by about 40% since 2021, according to IMPD data.

— Jordan Smith, IndyStar, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of decrease

Verb

Foreign central banks and other institutions looking for a safe place to park their capital have diminished roles in the Treasury market and have increasingly turned to alternative havens like gold.

— Jason Ma, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2026
These stabs at earnestness do nothing to diminish the feeling of the concert film being little more than a cash grab.

— Elena Lazic, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026

Definition of diminish

Verb

Hybrid work increased slightly while fully remote work shrank slightly; average remote hours slipped only from 27 to 26 hours over the measured period.

— Gleb Tsipursky, Washington Post, 11 Sep. 2026
Bernhardt and his team are working on their own research to determine how much the planet has shrunk, but said orbital data alone might not answer the question.

— Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of shrink

Verb

As farming ebbed, the water stored in those reservoirs helped the area's cities and suburbs become one of the nation's fastest growing urban areas.

— Alex Hager, NPR, 31 Aug. 2026
This is true if focusing on the standard price-to-earnings ratio, which has ebbed from 23 to 20 in the past 10 months.

— Michael Santoli, CNBC, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of ebb

Verb

In recent weeks, new cases and deaths have declined in Ituri province, the outbreak's epicenter, but risen sharply in neighboring North Kivu and Haut-Uele, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said at a weekly briefing.

— JEAN-YVES KAMALE, Arkansas Online, 11 Sep. 2026
Headen declined to claim responsibility for any of the posts.

— David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of decline

Verb

However, Brissett's play tapered off after he was hobbled by a knee injury.

— James Boyd, New York Times, 10 Sep. 2026
Activity scheduling generally follows daily circadian rhythms, so more intensive experiences are clustered in the mornings, with a smattering in the afternoon that tapers off in time for slow sunset yoga or meditation.

— Jessica Ritz, Travel + Leisure, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of taper off

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

ratbags

ratchet (down)

ratcheted (down)

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“Ratchet (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ratchet%20%28down%29. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of ratchet (down)

verb

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