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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Other Words from diminish

diminishable \ də-ˈmi-ni-shə-bəl

\ adjective

diminishment \ də-ˈmi-nish-mənt

\ noun

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

Paul is a 34-year-old player with diminishing skills and health coupled with three years and $124 million remaining on his contract. — Dave Hyde, sun-sentinel.com, "Hyde5: Can you talk yourself into backing a Heat trade for Chris Paul?," 12 July 2019 But anxiety over digital news has grown in recent years, with publishers worried by diminishing revenue and experts warning about the proliferation of low-quality sources. — James Vincent, The Verge, "Google is redesigning its News tab with more emphasis on headlines and publisher names," 12 July 2019 The evidence suggests that Dr. Hofeller was motivated to recommend the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 Census to advantage Republicans by diminishing Hispanics’ political power. — Cristian Farias, The New Yorker, "Is There Racist Intent Behind the Census Citizenship Question?," 26 June 2019 The pipe bounces back up, then falls back down, makes another sound and the cycle repeats a couple of times; each time, with diminishing energy. — Sarah Harvey, Curbed, "The marble upstairs," 17 June 2019 Microsoft on Facial Recognition and the Housing Crisis Smith’s antitrust comments came in the context of a broader discussion about tech companies’ responsibility to confront social issues at a time of diminishing trust in capitalism. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, "Microsoft President Says 'Hipster Antitrust' Is Coming," 11 June 2019 The sound of tires rolling over tarmac isn’t just the rare force known to diminish the power of Tom Shulz’s fretwork. — Nick Stockton, WIRED, "Bridgestone's New Tire Makes Driving Electric as Quiet as It Should Be," 5 June 2019 Georgia has been at the center of several recent complaints charging that state officials are attempting to diminish black voters’ power. — P.r. Lockhart, Vox, "Georgia, 2018’s most prominent voting rights battleground, explained," 2 Nov. 2018 Turkish Cypriots use the lira as their official currency and its devaluation at around 40 percent against the dollar has hit them hard by severely diminishing their purchasing power. — Menelaos Hadjicostis, Fox News, "Turkish Cypriots protest price hikes from Turkish lira woes," 6 Sep. 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.