RATCHETING (DOWN) Synonyms: 75 Similar and Opposite Words

ratcheting (down)

verb

variants also racheting (down)

present participle of ratchet (down)

as in decreasing

to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually news stories about the kidnapping will ratchet down as the weeks go by

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Recent Examples of Synonyms for ratcheting (down)

Verb

Parton didn’t stop with Dollywood By the early 1990s, Parton created The Dollywood Foundation with the goal of decreasing the high school drop out rate in Sevier County, which was hovering around 30%.

— Kimberlee Kruesi, Fortune, 27 Aug. 2026
Over several days, gradually increase the proportion of the new food while decreasing the old food.

— Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of decreasing

Verb

But the war’s unintended consequences have spread far beyond the Middle East, affecting global security, diminishing America’s global standing, and potentially providing its adversaries with an opportunity to expand their influence.

— Ivana Kottasová, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
As more money and attention flow into the space, the challenge is how to capitalize on the cultural cachet of the Grand Slams without diminishing what made that access desirable in the first place.

— Jessica Schiffer, Vogue, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of diminishing

Verb

The autocracies are surging, and democracies ebbing.

— Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
That number has fluctuated from a high of 115,000 in May to a low of about 16,000 on the day before this column was published, ebbing and flowing as tickets were purchased, new batches were released and FIFA (maybe) pulled back others.

— Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 10 June 2026

Definition of ebbing

Verb

If internal fluid pressure drops during aggressive extraction, the surrounding earth squeezes the cavern inward, permanently shrinking total storage capacity and crushing steel well casings.

— Siddharth Misra, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
That Toll Brothers vote encapsulated south Folsom’s shrinking oak woodland.

— Corey Schmidt, Sacbee.com, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of shrinking

Verb

When algorithms see these frictions falling away, the need for a driver premium plummets, deflating the surge price.

— Christopher S. Tang, The Conversation, 8 July 2026
But the memorandum drafted between Kyiv and Washington on an early-stage drone deal appears to suggest those obstacles may be falling away.

— Aidan Stretch, CBS News, 12 May 2026

Definition of falling away

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Browse Nearby Words

ratcheted (up)

ratcheting (down)

ratcheting (up)

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“Ratcheting (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ratcheting%20%28down%29. Accessed 31 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of ratcheting (down)

verb

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