diminish

verb

di·min·ish | \ də-ˈmi-nish

diminished; diminishing; diminishes

Definition of diminish

transitive verb

1 : to make less or cause to appear less diminish an army's strength His role in the company was diminished.

2 : to lessen the authority, dignity, or reputation of : belittle diminish a rival's accomplishments

3 architecture : to cause to taper (see taper entry 1 sense 1) a diminished column

intransitive verb

1 : to become gradually less (as in size or importance) : dwindle the side effects tend to diminish over time

2 architecture : taper

Other Words from diminish Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about diminish

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Choose the Right Synonym for diminish

decrease, lessen, diminish, reduce, abate, dwindle mean to grow or make less. decrease suggests a progressive decline in size, amount, numbers, or intensity. slowly decreased the amount of pressure lessen suggests a decline in amount rather than in number. has been unable to lessen her debt diminish emphasizes a perceptible loss and implies its subtraction from a total. his visual acuity has diminished reduce implies a bringing down or lowering. you must reduce your caloric intake abate implies a reducing of something excessive or oppressive in force or amount. the storm abated dwindle implies progressive lessening and is applied to things growing visibly smaller. their provisions dwindled slowly

Examples of diminish in a Sentence

The strength of the army was greatly diminished by outbreaks of disease. The drug's side effects should diminish over time. Nothing could diminish the importance of his contributions.

Recent Examples on the Web

The hitch: The token won’t operate like others, diminishing its allure to fans of cryptocurrencies. — Dave Michaels And Gabriel T. Rubin, WSJ, "Private-Jet Cryptocurrency Gets Pass From SEC," 3 Apr. 2019 Failing to cover these holes greatly diminishes the air pressure of the plunger. — Joseph Truini, Popular Mechanics, "How to Unclog a Drain," 26 Jan. 2019 Just a few cut corners diminished Huawei’s Matebook X Pro 14-inch flagship notebook. — Mark Hachman, PCWorld, "Hands on: Huawei's Matebook 13 shrinks the Matebook X Pro into a 'Whiskey Lake'-powered laptop," 7 Jan. 2019 This system appears to be less organized, the center said, and the chances for a tropical depression to form are diminishing. — Annie Martin, OrlandoSentinel.com, "National Hurricane Center monitoring two areas in the Atlantic Ocean," 5 July 2018 That means their cancers aren’t being detected as early, which diminishes their chances of surviving the disease. — Julia Belluz, Vox, "We’re making real progress against cancer. But you may not know it if you’re poor.," 8 Jan. 2019 Which Jeong proceeds to throw at the fashion assistants, a move that did not exactly diminish the intensity in the office or endear him to his colleagues. — Vogue, "Comedian Ken Jeong Interns in Vogue’s Beauty Closet, Discovers the Power of Sheet Masks," 18 Dec. 2018 And because music is also processed in part in a core part of the brain called the cerebellum, doctors say patients can retain the ability to dance and sing long after ability to talk has diminished. — Robert Mccoppin, courant.com, "Music Can Call Back Loved Ones Lost In Alzheimer's Darkness," 22 June 2018 These examples show the potential for China to broker liquidity — or the denial of it, in Korea’s case — to increase its own influence while diminishing U.S. influence. — Daniel Mcdowell, Washington Post, "Beijing is taking on a broader financial role. Here’s why that matters.," 14 June 2018

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