as in to reduce
to bring to a lower grade or rank
the court-martial's decision was to demote the officer responsible for the failed mission
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Recent Examples of demote
A bit of mordant familial humor held that the Great Depression had hit the year before, and the family had been demoted, but the new categorization was more likely the product of the family’s changing structure.
—
Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
Hobbs helped conduct that probe, which concluded that he and other employees had been retaliated against by the district’s special education director; as a result, the board demoted four administrators.
—Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2025
What To Know Ames brought her discrimination claim against the Ohio Youth Department after she was passed over for promotion in favor of a lesbian woman and then demoted under a gay man.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
An attorney representing the two men and the county told jurors that Miller was never demoted and never suffered a loss of pay or job duties, despite being an at-will employee due to her high-level position.
—Sean Emery, Oc Register, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for demote
Jelani Cobb, New Yorker, 14 June 2025
Hobbs helped conduct that probe, which concluded that he and other employees had been retaliated against by the district’s special education director; as a result, the board demoted four administrators.
—Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 June 2025
What To Know Ames brought her discrimination claim against the Ohio Youth Department after she was passed over for promotion in favor of a lesbian woman and then demoted under a gay man.
—Hannah Parry, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 June 2025
An attorney representing the two men and the county told jurors that Miller was never demoted and never suffered a loss of pay or job duties, despite being an at-will employee due to her high-level position.
—Sean Emery, Oc Register, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for demote
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demote
Verb
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Only a system designed with these principles can truly protect your organization, reduce losses and maintain trust with your honest customers.—
Marcin Nowak,
Forbes.com,
20 June 2025
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All evacuation orders have been reduced to warnings.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
20 June 2025
Verb
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In a series of tweets, Charli XCX dismissed the controversy and defended her creative choices.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
30 June 2025
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Social media companies have already gotten several claims dismissed, including a claim of unjust enrichment, Goetz said, because Nazario failed to respond to them.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
30 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Demote.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demote. Accessed 4 Jul. 2025.
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