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
Reserve Kion Smith, who was demoted from the 53-man roster to the practice squad last week, so Austin Jackson could return to the starting lineup, was made active for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
—
Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025
Tagnesi was demoted to a classroom teaching role last year after working as director of GUHSD’s special education department since 2010, following an internal investigation into the 2020 kidnapping and trafficking of a student.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 3 Dec. 2025
Stafford has been in such a rhythm for far too long to demote him for one substandard performance against a hot Carolina Panthers team.
—Jeff Howe, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2025
But during a lost season, the Pacers could easily experiment with Kuminga as its starting small forward over Aaron Nesmith — or could shift Nesmith down a position to shooting guard and demote Bennedict Mathurin to a bench role.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Nov. 2025
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Omar Kelly, Miami Herald, 7 Dec. 2025
Tagnesi was demoted to a classroom teaching role last year after working as director of GUHSD’s special education department since 2010, following an internal investigation into the 2020 kidnapping and trafficking of a student.
—Samantha Riedel, Them., 3 Dec. 2025
Stafford has been in such a rhythm for far too long to demote him for one substandard performance against a hot Carolina Panthers team.
—Jeff Howe, New York Times, 2 Dec. 2025
But during a lost season, the Pacers could easily experiment with Kuminga as its starting small forward over Aaron Nesmith — or could shift Nesmith down a position to shooting guard and demote Bennedict Mathurin to a bench role.
—Alex Kirschenbaum, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Nov. 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 12 Dec. 2025.
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