downgrade

noun

down·grade | \ˈdau̇n-ˌgrād

Definition of downgrade

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a downward grade (as of a road)

2 : a descent toward an inferior state a career on the downgrade

downgrade

verb

Definition of downgrade (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to lower in quality, value, status, or extent

2 : minimize, depreciate

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about downgrade

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Examples of downgrade in a Sentence

Noun

a downgrade in the company's stock prices a singing career on the downgrade

Verb

The restaurant was downgraded from three to two stars. She didn't intend to downgrade the importance of her colleague's work.

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Tesla declined to comment toFortune regarding the Moody’s downgrade. — Lucinda Shen, Fortune, "Tesla Shares Fall to Lowest Point in a Year on Model 3 Worries, Crash Probe," 28 Mar. 2018 From its low in March 2005 to the post-downgrade peak U.S. junk bond yields jumped from 2.7 to 4.6 percentage points above Treasury yields, according to the ICE BAML index. — James Mackintosh, WSJ, "If GE Debt Gets Junked, Markets Have Reason to Shudder," 20 Nov. 2018 The government is battling to return public finances to a sustainable path and stave off another credit-rating downgrade, following years of stagnant growth and policy missteps that left a gaping hole in the budget. — Arabile Gumede, Bloomberg.com, "South Africa January Trade Gap Swells to Biggest Since 1990," 28 Feb. 2018 There’s a serious downgrade for free users, who are now limited to 1,000 pictures on the photo sharing site, instead of the free 1TB of storage that was previously offered. — Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge, "Flickr will end 1TB of free storage and limit free users to 1,000 photos," 1 Nov. 2018 Moody’s Investors Service on Monday downgraded $6 billion in bonds issued to finance the airport to Baa 3 from Baa 1, with the possibility of further downgrades. — Stephen Nakrosis And, WSJ, "Fitch Lowers Mexico’s Outlook to Negative," 31 Oct. 2018 Another reason many of us stopped paying attention is the category downgrade. — Cady Drell, Marie Claire, "Don’t Forget About the Victims of Hurricane Florence," 18 Sep. 2018 As Jaxx Herd in her upcoming film The Meg, Ruby Rose upgrades — or maybe downgrades — her pixie cut. — Leah Prinzivalli, Allure, "Watch Ruby Rose Test Drive a Mullet Via Our Virtual Photoshop Makeover," 1 Aug. 2018 Still, a switch of scenery need not equate a downgrade in active glamour. — Calin Van Paris, Vogue, "Kim Kardashian West's Favorite Red Carpet Hair Look is Also her New Workout Signature," 18 July 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Razer downgraded the screen’s refresh rate, keyboard, battery, cooling, thickness, and even the speed of the SSD. — Stefan Etienne, The Verge, "Razer Blade 15 dual storage review: too much compromise," 8 Nov. 2018 Moody’s Investor Service downgraded Tesla’s credit rating over concerns about how much cash the company is using up. — New York Times, "Tesla’s Latest Aim: Build 500,000 Cars a Year in China," 10 July 2018 On June 15, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the rating on Brookfield's outstanding general obligation debt to Aa1 from Aaa for the conference center proposal. — Karen Pilarski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "City of Brookfield approves conference center financing, but loses sterling bond rating in the process," 20 June 2018 Citing a decline in investor confidence, Moody’s, a ratings agency, recently downgraded the ratings of 17 Turkish banks. — The Economist, "Surrender your dollars, urges Turkey’s President Erdogan," 14 June 2018 The league also downgraded his flagrant two to a flagrant one. — Jenna West, SI.com, "Tristan Thompson Fined $25,000 for Game 1 Skirmish," 1 June 2018 Moody's Investor Service downgraded Tesla's debt into junk territory back in March, warning at the time that Tesla didn't have cash to cover $3.7 billion for normal operations, capital expenses and debt that come due early next year. — Tom Krisher, chicagotribune.com, "'Not cool': Tesla plummets after Musk lets loose in testy earnings call," 3 May 2018 Forecasters say the storm will likely lose its organization and be downgraded to a tropical depression by early Saturday. — Fox News, "Hurricane Center: TS Kirk likely to dissipate in Caribbean," 28 Sep. 2018 Now downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, Beryl’s convection has been displaced away from the center much of the day. — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, "PM Update: Excellent conditions this evening ahead of a cool overnight, then superb on Sunday," 7 July 2018

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

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Statistics for downgrade

Last Updated

12 Dec 2018

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Time Traveler for downgrade

The first known use of downgrade was in 1857

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More Definitions for downgrade

downgrade

noun

Financial Definition of downgrade

What It Is

A downgrade is an announcement of an analyst lowering their opinion on the desirability of a company as an investment. It can apply to either debt or equity.

How It Works

Downgrades can come from a variety of sources: brokerage firms, research firms, ratings agencies, etc.

Downgrades of equities can happen for several reasons, but usually they center on industry, regulatory, technology, or management changes that the analyst feels will hinder the issuer's future performance. These factors create fundamental shifts in the analyst's outlook, making the security appear either fully valued or overvalued.

Debt downgrades generally come from ratings agencies such as Moody's or Standard & Poor's (S&P). A downgrade from one of them is a major signal that an issuer is more likely to default on its debt. If a bond is downgraded to a level below investment grade (aka, "junk"), there is often a serious sell off of those bonds, because most institutional investors are forbidden from owning junk bonds.

Why It Matters

Ratings have a large influence on the demand of a security. Downgrades (or even rumors of downgrades) tell investors that a security is now believed to be riskier, which may have a negative impact on the security's price. In turn, downgrades often lead to less trading activity and lowered liquidity.

Source: Investing Answers

downgrade

noun