demoted

verb

past tense of demote
as in reduced
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of demoted One of those spots could go to right-hander Adrian Houser, who was demoted from the rotation to the bullpen following extended struggles. — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 3 Aug. 2026 Two weeks after Kowalski's retirement, interim Police Chief Ken Myers demoted everyone involved. — Kelsy Mittauer, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2026 Backup guard Caedan Wallace, who has seemingly been demoted to third team, and backup tackle James Hudson left at different points with injuries. — Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 1 Aug. 2026 Last summer, Crystal Palace were demoted from the Europa League to the Conference League because co-owner John Textor held shares in both Palace and Lyon, who had also qualified for the Europa League. — James Pearce, New York Times, 11 July 2026 Scheublin wasn’t demoted to a borough command post until January 2026, having at that point been the subject of a criminal investigation for a year. — Rocco Parascandola, New York Daily News, 10 July 2026 The station demoted one anchor and began discouraging its reporters from pursuing political stories that could draw attention to the station in favor of human interest stories, The Associated Press reported at the time. — Max Tani, semafor.com, 6 July 2026 But in the process, the department demoted theology, a field that some had targeted for enjoying professional status when nursing did not. — Marc Ramirez, USA Today, 2 July 2026 Sanchez was never able to match that success though, and was eventually traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014, where he was ultimately demoted to the role of backup quarterback. — Chris Spargo, PEOPLE, 29 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoted
  1. reduced
  2. dismissed
  3. sacked
Verb
  • Although the details of the project – including how the money would be divided between states and how exactly water use would be reduced – are currently undetermined.
    — Swasti Singhai, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
  • At a time when Iran dominates political headlines, this novel offered a deeply human perspective on a country too often reduced to geopolitics.
    — Kat Chen, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of reduced
Verb
  • But that conviction was dismissed after the revelation that a juror in the trial had not disclosed a domestic violence incident in her own background in order to win a seat on the panel, The Denver Post reports.
    — Virginia Chamlee, PEOPLE, 1 Aug. 2026
  • Defense attorneys also should not be able to reference the felony charges dismissed after video showed agents’ falsehoods.
    — Julia Coin, Charlotte Observer, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of dismissed
Verb
  • In July, the South African Football Association (SAFA) issued two separate statements, the first dismissing reports that Broos had been sacked from his role, with the second statement denying he had been offered a one-year contract extension.
    — Leon Imber, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • People can and should be skeptical about the sonnets written about starting NFL quarterbacks every offseason, when no one is getting sacked and almost everyone looks good.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2026
Definition of sacked

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Cite this Entry

“Demoted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoted. Accessed 7 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on demoted

Nglish: Translation of demoted for Spanish Speakers

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