reduce

1
as in to demote
to bring to a lower grade or rank was reduced from team captain to team member as punishment for his misbehavior on the court

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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Synonym Chooser

How does the verb reduce differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of reduce are abate, decrease, diminish, dwindle, and lessen. While all these words mean "to grow or make less," reduce implies a bringing down or lowering.

you must reduce your caloric intake

When would abate be a good substitute for reduce?

The synonyms abate and reduce are sometimes interchangeable, but abate implies a reducing of something excessive or oppressive in force or amount.

the storm abated

Where would decrease be a reasonable alternative to reduce?

The meanings of decrease and reduce largely overlap; however, decrease suggests a progressive decline in size, amount, numbers, or intensity.

slowly decreased the amount of pressure

When can diminish be used instead of reduce?

While the synonyms diminish and reduce are close in meaning, diminish emphasizes a perceptible loss and implies its subtraction from a total.

his visual acuity has diminished

In what contexts can dwindle take the place of reduce?

In some situations, the words dwindle and reduce are roughly equivalent. However, dwindle implies progressive lessening and is applied to things growing visibly smaller.

their provisions dwindled slowly

When is lessen a more appropriate choice than reduce?

The words lessen and reduce are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, lessen suggests a decline in amount rather than in number.

has been unable to lessen her debt

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 reduce The City Council voted 7-0 June 10 to approve an ordinance to reduce the latest time in which peddlers and solicitors can knock on doors, ring doorbells or otherwise try to get admittance at residences from 9 p.m. Gayatri Agnew, Ward 1 City Council member, abstained from voting. Thomas Saccente, Arkansas Online, 20 June 2025 Inflation data of late has shown little pass-through so far as companies burn off inventory accumulated in the run-up to the tariff announcement, and amid concerns that consumer demand is slowing and reducing pricing power. Jeff Cox, CNBC, 20 June 2025 Here are recommendations for maintaining safety during a thunderstorm: To reduce the chance of being struck by lightning, when venturing outside, have a plan to get to a safer area. Nc Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 9 June 2025 Yerevan has since sought to diversify its defense sources, reducing arms imports from Russia to as low as 10 percent by 2024. Paul Iddon, Forbes.com, 8 June 2025 See All Example Sentences for reduce
Recent Examples of Synonyms for reduce
Verb
  • With the Mets tentatively planning to activate Vientos on Monday, Mauricio is the likely candidate to demote.
    Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 21 June 2025
  • The Boston Red Sox are demoting top prospect Kristian Campbell, per ESPN's Jeff Passan.
    Noah Camras, MSNBC Newsweek, 19 June 2025
Verb
  • The top three contributors to hydroplaning are: Vehicle speed - When a vehicle's speed increases, the tire-traction grip and ability to control the vehicle decreases.
    KANSAS CITY STAR WEATHER BOT, Kansas City Star, 25 June 2025
  • The three main causes of hydroplaning are: Vehicle speed - When a vehicle's speed increases, the tire-traction grip and ability to control the vehicle decreases.
    NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 25 June 2025
Verb
  • One of the challenges is that signals in fiber-optic cables degrade over distance.
    Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 June 2025
  • Israel wants to degrade Iran's missiles and nuclear program.
    Brittney Melton, NPR, 23 June 2025
Verb
  • This year brought two new adverse factors — President Donald Trump’s tariffs that could generate retaliatory tariffs, depressing export markets, and Trump’s sweeps of undocumented immigrants, who are a major portion of the agricultural labor force.
    Dan Walters, Mercury News, 25 June 2025
  • Most Fed officials are worried surging import taxes could depress growth while restarting what had been cooling inflation pressures.
    Michael S. Derby, USA Today, 24 June 2025
Verb
  • Over the course of watering flower and plant containers, the soil can become depleted.
    Rebecca Jones, Southern Living, 25 June 2025
  • Once the fund's reserves become depleted, Medicare would be able to cover only 89% of costs for patients' hospital visits, hospice care and nursing home stays or home health care that follow hospital visits.
    Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 19 June 2025
Verb
  • Does the Trump administration really want to sink that low?
    Louis Balsamo, Baltimore Sun, 25 June 2025
  • Testing found that the limestone on which the foundation sat and the pile concrete were strong enough to support the building, and the basement slab showed no signs of cracking or sinking.
    Linda Robertson, Miami Herald, 24 June 2025
Verb
  • But all this trouble didn’t diminish his affection.
    Brett Berk, Robb Report, 26 June 2025
  • And the chaos does gradually diminish, like a pot of stock boiled down to a sauce.
    Tom Gliatto, People.com, 26 June 2025
Verb
  • However, for the highly engaged workaholics, this health impairment process was markedly attenuated.
    Ellen Choi, Forbes.com, 16 June 2025
  • Sometimes, adding a caveat to a declarative message serves to attenuate — or even to completely undermine — that message.
    Charles C. W. Cooke, National Review, 10 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Reduce.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/reduce. Accessed 2 Jul. 2025.

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