as in reducing
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 demoting
Back in 2018, Molitor said demoting Sanó was one of the most difficult decisions of his career.
—
Dan Hayes, New York Times, 3 June 2026
Biden opted to make South Carolina the Democrats’ first-in-the-nation primary state, advancing Nevada and Michigan in the schedule while dropping Iowa and demoting New Hampshire.
—Daniel C. Vock, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026
City Manager Maraskeshia Smith had previously suggested either cutting or demoting 37 current city employees.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 18 May 2026
As far as Williams, the Mets aren’t considering demoting him.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2026
Chennai buckled down Kolkata to 36-2 in the power play despite Ajinkya Rahane demoting himself down the order after the skipper struggled to give his team strong starts.
—ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
Senior officials have discussed promoting Dhillon to one of the top department roles, while demoting Woodward, the sources added.
—Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 4 Apr. 2026
In late January, the president put border czar Tom Homan in charge of the crackdown, effectively demoting the Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2026
Once Watson and Gordon are both back, Watson will probably be coming off the bench for the first time since mid-November, unless Adelman wants to make a more dramatic change by demoting someone from his starting lineup.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 2 Mar. 2026
Dan Hayes, New York Times, 3 June 2026
Biden opted to make South Carolina the Democrats’ first-in-the-nation primary state, advancing Nevada and Michigan in the schedule while dropping Iowa and demoting New Hampshire.
—Daniel C. Vock, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026
City Manager Maraskeshia Smith had previously suggested either cutting or demoting 37 current city employees.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 18 May 2026
As far as Williams, the Mets aren’t considering demoting him.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2026
Chennai buckled down Kolkata to 36-2 in the power play despite Ajinkya Rahane demoting himself down the order after the skipper struggled to give his team strong starts.
—ABC News, 14 Apr. 2026
Senior officials have discussed promoting Dhillon to one of the top department roles, while demoting Woodward, the sources added.
—Sarah N. Lynch, CBS News, 4 Apr. 2026
In late January, the president put border czar Tom Homan in charge of the crackdown, effectively demoting the Border Patrol’s Greg Bovino.
—Jason Ma, Fortune, 6 Mar. 2026
Once Watson and Gordon are both back, Watson will probably be coming off the bench for the first time since mid-November, unless Adelman wants to make a more dramatic change by demoting someone from his starting lineup.
—Bennett Durando, Denver Post, 2 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoting
Verb
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This battery system will enable up to 12 hours of silent scientific operations powered entirely by batteries, reducing both emissions and underwater noise that can interfere with sensitive marine research.—
Dea Jusufi,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
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According to the researchers, the catalyst weakens excessive bonding between iron sites and hydroxyl intermediates, allowing the reaction to proceed more smoothly and reducing one of the major bottlenecks in zinc-air battery operation.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
13 June 2026
Verb
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As the media fixates on the digital natives known as Gen Z and Gen Alpha — often dismissing them as antisocial and entitled members of society — Saturday’s celebration showed that younger generations might actually have it all under control.—
Andrea Flores,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
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Democrats criticized Republicans for dismissing attempts at meaningful reform.—
Ximena Bustillo,
NPR,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Demoting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoting. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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