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 1taper 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
From the M-W Editors
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 of diminish from the Web
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Even after serious leg injuries derailed each of his first two seasons, White's drive hasn't diminished.
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Beyond travel, Engage Cuba predicts changes to current rules could diminish U.S. exports by $227.6 million per year, costing 1,359 jobs.
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Overall therefore, while the negative correlation between oil/energy prices and corporate credit risk has diminished significantly over the past year, there are mitigating factors to at least partly explain this.
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Still, that doesn’t diminish the shock of seeing how Third World discards become First World collector’s items.
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Meanwhile, walking away from American values in the Middle East and Europe also diminishes what the United States is, has been, and should be.
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Considering the additional funding the county will receive in 2018 due to the new legislation, the need for a large cash reserve is diminished.
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Moving one of its core functions to Treasury would significantly diminish the agency’s power.
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None of this is meant to diminish the awful reality of what happened on Monday night in Manchester.
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.
Origin and Etymology of diminish
Middle English deminishen, alteration of diminuen, from Anglo-French diminuer, from Late Latin diminuere, alteration of Latin deminuere, from de- + minuere to lessen — more at minor
First Known Use: 15th century
Synonym Discussion of diminish
DIMINISH Defined for English Language Learners
diminish
playDefinition of diminish for English Language Learners
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: to become or to cause (something) to become less in size, importance, etc.
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: to lessen the authority or reputation of (someone or something) : to describe (something) as having little value or importance
DIMINISH Defined for Kids
diminish
playDefinition of diminish for Students
diminished
;diminishing
1 : to make less or cause to seem less … he didn't want to diminish any chance he might have of being found. — Gary Paulsen, Hatchet
2 : belittle
3 : to become gradually less or smaller The number of wild birds is diminishing.
diminishment
\-mənt\ nounLearn More about diminish
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See words that rhyme with diminish Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for diminish Spanish Central: Translation of diminish Nglish: Translation of diminish for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of diminish for Arabic speakers
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