demote

verb

de·mote | \ di-ˈmōt

, ˌdē-\

demoted; demoting

Definition of demote

transitive verb

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

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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

Google said that Foundem was demoted because most of its content included links to other pages, indicating that the site offered little original content. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "The long, tortured quest to make Google unbiased," 6 Dec. 2018 Facebook has partnered with fact checkers to catch posts that link to false news articles, which will then be demoted in the news feed. — Dustin Volz, WSJ, "U.S. Girds for Possible Russian Meddling on Election Day," 5 Nov. 2018 When a diviner from Korea informs the emperor that his son would be a bad ruler, Genji is demoted to the status of a commoner. — Emily Ferguson, WSJ, "The Legacy of a Japanese Classic," 22 Feb. 2019 Don’t artificially promote your own services in the search results and demote or exclude competing services. — Adi Robertson, The Verge, "The long, tortured quest to make Google unbiased," 6 Dec. 2018 Could the president effectively demote the Fed chair, stripping the top title but leaving him or her on the board of governors? — Nick Timiraos, WSJ, "Q&A: Can Trump Remove Powell as Fed Chairman?," 26 Dec. 2018 The French midfielder only played 25 of United's 38 Premier League games last season and was demoted to the bench on several occasions. — SI.com, "Paul Pogba Admits to 'Small Issues' With Man Utd Boss & Hints This World Cup Could Be His Last," 25 June 2018 If a story is identified as false, Facebook will demote them in the news feed and will warn users who try to post those stories. — Casey Newton, The Verge, "There’s a crack at the heart of Facebook’s advertising business," 4 Oct. 2018 Another employee was demoted for complaining about the change. — Katie Honan, WSJ, "Head of NYC Investigative Agency Made Improper Staff Changes, Probe Finds," 11 Oct. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'demote.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.