mod·er·ate
ˈmä-d(ə-)rət 
1
2
a
: tending toward the mean or average amount or dimension
a family of moderate income
b
: having average or less than average quality : mediocre
wrote moderate poetry to the end of his life—
Carl Van Doren
Carl Van Doren3
: not violent, severe, or intense
a moderate climate
moderate winters
cook over moderate heat
4
: professing or characterized by political or social beliefs that are not extreme
had left-wing, moderate, and right-wing candidates vying for the nomination
5
: limited in scope or effect
His new wealth had only a moderate effect on his way of life.
6
: not expensive : reasonable or low in price
a moderate price for a new house
7
of a color
: of medium lightness and medium chroma
a moderate red
moderateness
noun
mod·er·ate
ˈmä-də-ˌrāt
moderated; moderating
1
: to lessen the intensity or extremeness of
the sun moderated the chill
2
: to preside over or act as chairman of
moderated the board of directors meeting
moderated the debate
1
: to act as a moderator
He moderated on a weekly panel show.
2
: to become less violent, severe, or intense
the wind began to moderate
mod·er·ate
ˈmä-d(ə-)rət
: one who holds moderate views or who belongs to a group favoring a moderate course or program
Synonyms
Examples of moderate in a Sentence
Adjective
Her doctor recommended moderate exercise.
There were moderate levels of chemicals in the lake.
drinking moderate amounts of coffee
Most of these medicines relieve mild to moderate pain.
a family of moderate income
a book of moderate length
The group met with only moderate success.
a writer of moderate talent
The hotel offers comfortable rooms at moderate prices.
Both moderate Democrats and moderate Republicans can agree on this new law.
Verb
The protesters have been unwilling to moderate their demands.
She moderates at our office meetings.
She moderates our discussions so that we don't argue or talk at the same time.
Noun
Moderates from both political parties have agreed on an economic plan.
to the community's detriment, moderates were often shouted down at town meetings by the local hotheads
Recent Examples on the WebJonathan Mahler Edoardo Ballerini Emma Kehlbeck Joel Thibodeau, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
While no injuries were reported, authorities said the door to Sanders' office sustained moderate fire damage, and the third floor and floors below sustained significant water damage.
—Rachel Treisman, NPR, 6 Apr. 2024
Though buildings that can reach above 100 stories might seem especially vulnerable to earthquakes, engineering experts say skyscrapers are built with enough flexibility to withstand moderate shaking.
—Philip Marcelo, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024
Meanwhile, Biden allies and some Republicans had criticized the No Labels effort, saying a third-party campaign could draw moderate votes away from Biden and boost Trump's reelection chances.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
Leslie Sonder, an associate professor of earth sciences at Dartmouth specializing in geodynamics, said the eastern U.S. typically experiences small and moderate earthquakes — and far less frequently than the West — because the nearest plate boundary is way off in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
—Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Rheinhessen wines are known for their easy drinking nature and moderate acidity.
—Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 4 Apr. 2024
Another 425 million people are thought to have a mild to moderate version of the dangerous condition — for those people, breathing stops between five and 29 times per hour.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
Instead, Young sees the Better Party as a vehicle to help get moderate, independent candidates onto the ballot in Missouri.
—Daniel Desrochers, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2024
Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Apr. 2024
Alan Wolk will moderate a cosmopolitan panel bringing together David Salmon (Tubi), Kasia Kieli (Warner Bros. Discovery Poland and TVN), Natalie Gabathuler-Scully (Vevo), Peyton Lombardo (3Vision), Robert Andrae (Google), Jennifer Batty (Samsung TVPlus EMEA) and Jordan Warkol (OTTera).
—Ben Croll, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Previously, creators were able to assign teammates with certain permissions; this update allows creators to distribute some of the work of moderating their community to their liking.
—Mia Sato, The Verge, 3 Apr. 2024
This panel will be moderated by Dr. Kostas Daniilidis around the current hot topic of AI Embodied in Robotics.
—IEEE Spectrum, 29 Mar. 2024
We’ll be moderated by my L.A. Times colleague Faith Pinho.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Read more: Trader Joe’s is raising banana prices for the first time in 20 years
Food-at-home prices in the U.S., which capture grocery and supermarket foods, increased by 5% in 2023, moderating somewhat after an 11.4% increase a year earlier.
—Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
It was put on hold this summer in the wake of a lawsuit that accused the U.S. government of improperly pressuring tech companies about how to moderate their sites and an aggressive inquisition from the House Judiciary Committee and its chair, Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
—Kevin Collier, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024
Questions and comments will be moderated, read, and answered as time allows.
—Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
Philip Elliott, TIME, 2 Apr. 2024
That doesn’t mean that the three Trump appointees are moderates.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
His overwhelming primary victories, including more than a dozen on Tuesday that pushed Nikki Haley from the race, have masked his long-term problems with voters who live in the suburbs, those who view themselves as moderates or independents, and Republicans who backed Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020.
—Michael C. Bender, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Schiff won both liberals and moderates, despite Lee’s close ties to the liberal community.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 6 Mar. 2024
Those moderates borrowed the playbook from their more conservative colleagues – who have repeatedly brought the House to a standstill in recent months – and threatened to tank an unrelated vote and freeze legislative action.
—Ken Tran, The Courier-Journal, 23 Feb. 2024
Second-safest has been Massachusetts, another generally ultra-blue state which has had only occasional Republican governors since 1970, both of them moderates.
—Thomas Elias, The Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2024
Super Tuesday exit polls in California Donald Trump scored a commanding win in California, winning men, women, both White and non-White voters, both moderates and conservatives, both Republicans and independents and voters of all age groups and education levels.
—Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2024
Haley does hold a wide lead among those who identify themselves as liberals or moderates (59%-38%) and a narrow one among those who are voting in the GOP primary for the first time (51%-49%).
—Susan Page, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Fast price increases spell trouble, but moderate price gains can lead to higher wages and job growth.
—Jonathan Mahler Edoardo Ballerini Emma Kehlbeck Joel Thibodeau, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2024
While no injuries were reported, authorities said the door to Sanders' office sustained moderate fire damage, and the third floor and floors below sustained significant water damage.
—Rachel Treisman, NPR, 6 Apr. 2024
Though buildings that can reach above 100 stories might seem especially vulnerable to earthquakes, engineering experts say skyscrapers are built with enough flexibility to withstand moderate shaking.
—Philip Marcelo, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024
Meanwhile, Biden allies and some Republicans had criticized the No Labels effort, saying a third-party campaign could draw moderate votes away from Biden and boost Trump's reelection chances.
—USA TODAY, 5 Apr. 2024
Leslie Sonder, an associate professor of earth sciences at Dartmouth specializing in geodynamics, said the eastern U.S. typically experiences small and moderate earthquakes — and far less frequently than the West — because the nearest plate boundary is way off in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
—Jenny Jarvie, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024
Rheinhessen wines are known for their easy drinking nature and moderate acidity.
—Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report, 4 Apr. 2024
Another 425 million people are thought to have a mild to moderate version of the dangerous condition — for those people, breathing stops between five and 29 times per hour.
—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 4 Apr. 2024
Instead, Young sees the Better Party as a vehicle to help get moderate, independent candidates onto the ballot in Missouri.
—Daniel Desrochers, Kansas City Star, 3 Apr. 2024
Verb
Bobby’s Triple Threat FYC event Sophie Flay moderated a conversation with Food Network’s Bobby Flay, Michael Voltaggio, Tiffany Derry, and Brooke Williamson for Bobby’s Triple Threat on Monday in Los Angeles.
—Kirsten Chuba, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Apr. 2024
Alan Wolk will moderate a cosmopolitan panel bringing together David Salmon (Tubi), Kasia Kieli (Warner Bros. Discovery Poland and TVN), Natalie Gabathuler-Scully (Vevo), Peyton Lombardo (3Vision), Robert Andrae (Google), Jennifer Batty (Samsung TVPlus EMEA) and Jordan Warkol (OTTera).
—Ben Croll, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Previously, creators were able to assign teammates with certain permissions; this update allows creators to distribute some of the work of moderating their community to their liking.
—Mia Sato, The Verge, 3 Apr. 2024
This panel will be moderated by Dr. Kostas Daniilidis around the current hot topic of AI Embodied in Robotics.
—IEEE Spectrum, 29 Mar. 2024
We’ll be moderated by my L.A. Times colleague Faith Pinho.
—Sammy Roth, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
Read more: Trader Joe’s is raising banana prices for the first time in 20 years
Food-at-home prices in the U.S., which capture grocery and supermarket foods, increased by 5% in 2023, moderating somewhat after an 11.4% increase a year earlier.
—Rocio Fabbro, Quartz, 27 Mar. 2024
It was put on hold this summer in the wake of a lawsuit that accused the U.S. government of improperly pressuring tech companies about how to moderate their sites and an aggressive inquisition from the House Judiciary Committee and its chair, Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
—Kevin Collier, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024
Questions and comments will be moderated, read, and answered as time allows.
—Meghan Leahy, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2024
Noun
But a revolt among moderates and GOP lawmakers in at-risk seats put that sect of the party on a collision course with the conservative ideologues.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 2 Apr. 2024
That doesn’t mean that the three Trump appointees are moderates.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
His overwhelming primary victories, including more than a dozen on Tuesday that pushed Nikki Haley from the race, have masked his long-term problems with voters who live in the suburbs, those who view themselves as moderates or independents, and Republicans who backed Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020.
—Michael C. Bender, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024
Schiff won both liberals and moderates, despite Lee’s close ties to the liberal community.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 6 Mar. 2024
Those moderates borrowed the playbook from their more conservative colleagues – who have repeatedly brought the House to a standstill in recent months – and threatened to tank an unrelated vote and freeze legislative action.
—Ken Tran, The Courier-Journal, 23 Feb. 2024
Second-safest has been Massachusetts, another generally ultra-blue state which has had only occasional Republican governors since 1970, both of them moderates.
—Thomas Elias, The Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2024
Super Tuesday exit polls in California Donald Trump scored a commanding win in California, winning men, women, both White and non-White voters, both moderates and conservatives, both Republicans and independents and voters of all age groups and education levels.
—Jennifer De Pinto, CBS News, 6 Mar. 2024
Haley does hold a wide lead among those who identify themselves as liberals or moderates (59%-38%) and a narrow one among those who are voting in the GOP primary for the first time (51%-49%).
—Susan Page, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'moderate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near moderate
Cite this Entry
“Moderate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/moderate. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
moderate
1 of 3 adjective
mod·er·ate
ˈmäd-(ə-)rət
1
a
: avoiding or lacking extremes (as in behavior or temperature)
a moderate eater
moderate climates
b
: calm entry 3 sense 2, reasonable
moderate demands
2
a
: neither very much nor very little : average in size or amount
a moderate rain
b
: neither very good nor very bad
met with only moderate success
3
: opposed to major social change or extreme political ideas
a moderate candidate
4
: not expensive : reasonable or low in price
moderate rates
moderately
adverb
moderateness
noun
moderate
2 of 3 verb
mod·er·ate
ˈmäd-ə-ˌrāt
moderated; moderating
1
: to make or become less violent, severe, or intense
2
: to guide a discussion or act as chairperson of a meeting
moderate
3 of 3 noun
mod·er·ate
ˈmäd-(ə-)rət
: one who holds moderate views or belongs to a moderate group (as in politics)
Medical Definition
moderate
1 of 2 adjective
mod·er·ate
ˈmäd-(ə-)rət
1
: avoiding extremes of behavior : observing reasonable limits
a moderate drinker
2
: not severe in effect or degree
moderate alcohol consumption
the abdomen was mildly distended with moderate tenderness—Timothy Melester et al.
Timothy Melester et al.moderate developmental disabilities
moderate
2 of 2 transitive verb
mod·er·ate
ˈmäd-ə-ˌrāt
moderated; moderating
: to reduce the speed or energy of (neutrons)
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share