variants
also racheted (down)
as in decreased
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually
news stories about the kidnapping will ratchet down as the weeks go by
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ratcheted (down)
Verb
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In the past forty years, men’s wages have decreased as a percentage of over-all family income, while broader wealth inequalities and job insecurity have grown.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026 -
In two of six Minneapolis areas, overall crime decreased 43% and 56% respectively, while, in all other areas, overall crime rose.—
Eric Adler
March 29,
Kansas City Star,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Still, those sorts of phony statements have deeply diminished faith in our elections and our increasingly rickety democracy.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
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How diminished will their opportunities for success be in the real world?—
Ethan Siegel,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But eventually, the anger ebbed; replaced by an all-too-familiar ache of grief laced with longing.—
Chelsea Bailey,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2026
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West Ham’s defending once caused consternation among the fanbase, but those concerns have slowly ebbed away.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Concessions in the 2010s froze wages and weakened health and retirement benefits, and the executive branch work force shrunk by 10%.—
Mark Pazniokas,
Hartford Courant,
26 Mar. 2026
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The research and manufacturing infrastructure to close those gaps quickly doesn’t currently exist at the scale this moment requires, and the workforce to deploy them has shrunk.—
Ashish K. Jha,
STAT,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
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With a hollow interior trunk, Stumpy was among 158 trees felled in 2024 as part of a project aimed at shoring up a sea wall near the National Mall.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC news,
25 Mar. 2026
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And to be sure, there were winds and rain strong enough to fell several trees, flood a few roads, and knock out power in some Maryland and Virginia suburbs.—
Scott Simon,
NPR,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
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All of the candidates would be newcomers to the board, since incumbents Denise Fears and Blake Roberson declined to run.—
Eleanor Nash,
Kansas City Star,
28 Mar. 2026
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Uber declined to comment on its latest entry into the autonomous vehicle market.—
Michael Butler,
Miami Herald,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
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The analysis showed bacterial diversity recovered the fastest in the first two years after people took antibiotics; the rate of recovery tapered off after that point.—
Lori Youmshajekian,
Scientific American,
11 Mar. 2026
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After the initial surge following the Tuesday Instagram post upping the reward, the number of calls to the sheriff's department has tapered off, sources said.—
Aaron Katersky,
ABC News,
26 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Ratcheted (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ratcheted%20%28down%29. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
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