demoted; demoting
1
: to reduce to a lower grade or rank
demote a student
was demoted from major to captain
2
: to relegate to a less important position
a pitcher demoted to the bullpen
Examples of demote in a Sentence
Teachers can choose to demote a student to a lower grade.
The army major was demoted to captain.
Recent Examples on the Web
Flacco played in four games for Cleveland in 2025, starting all of them and leading the team to a 1-3 mark before he was demoted in favor of Gabriel.
—
Max Dible, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
But Old Man Nate’s ascension to the big four means Jawan has been officially demoted to the minor leagues.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Oct. 2025
The character is a former tactical officer demoted to patrol by her supervisor after noting his tendencies to avoid any real work to preserve his pension.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2025
The video went viral, triggering backlash from Republican lawmakers who called for McCoul to be fired and praised the fact that the school also demoted the College of Arts and Science’s dean and revoked administrative duties from a department head.
—Laura Gail Miller, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for demote
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Max Dible, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Oct. 2025
But Old Man Nate’s ascension to the big four means Jawan has been officially demoted to the minor leagues.
—Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 2 Oct. 2025
The character is a former tactical officer demoted to patrol by her supervisor after noting his tendencies to avoid any real work to preserve his pension.
—Rosy Cordero, Deadline, 1 Oct. 2025
The video went viral, triggering backlash from Republican lawmakers who called for McCoul to be fired and praised the fact that the school also demoted the College of Arts and Science’s dean and revoked administrative duties from a department head.
—Laura Gail Miller, The Conversation, 30 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for demote
Cite this Entry
“Demote.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demote. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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