Synonyms of winnowed

winnowed

verb

past tense of winnow

as in culled

to remove less desirable choices from a group or list

They winnowed the pool of applicants down to a few of the strongest candidates.

I tried to winnow out the options that weren't a good value for the price.

Related Words

• culled
• trimmed
• cut
• pared
• reduced
• sifted
• discarded
• filtered
• jettisoned
• slashed
• rejected
• shortened
• refused
• condensed
• spurned
• threw away
• pruned
• shrank
• declined
• turned down
• threw out
• truncated
• cropped
• repudiated
• dwindled
• decreased
• curtailed
• depleted
• clipped
• disapproved
• retrenched
• downsized
• cut down
• abbreviated
• lowered
• abridged
• compressed
• cleared
• cut back
• eased
• dented
• nicked
• contracted
• docked
• abated
• lessened
• dropped
• whittled (down)
• negatived
• knocked down
• minimized
• downscaled
• modulated
• modified
• constricted
• deflated
• sieved
• qualified
• moderated
• screened
• distilled
• refined
• purified
• processed
• de-escalated
• fined
• bolted
• clarified
• rectified
• garbled

Dissimilar Words

• selected
• picked
• culled
• elected
• named
• took
• preferred
• chose
• set
• adopted
• appointed
• accepted
• designated
• nominated
• tapped
• marked
• preselected
• tagged
• fixed
• singled (out)
• embraced
• handpicked
• opted (for)
• espoused
• settled (on or upon)
• swelled
• cherry-picked
• extended
• inflated
• added (to)
• supplemented
• prolonged
• dilated
• lengthened
• distended
• tabbed
• elongated
• blew up
• complemented
• increased
• protracted
• intensified
• expanded
• enhanced
• heightened
• raised
• augmented
• enlarged
• amplified
• redoubled
• boosted
• escalated
• aggrandized

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of winnowed

The first knockout round continues through Friday night, when the field will be winnowed to 16 teams. — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 28 June 2026

The council winnowed that list down to five finalists who interviewed for the post last week ahead of Monday’s vote. — Mary Ramsey updated June 22, Charlotte Observer, 23 June 2026

The field will be winnowed to two finalists, with a vote of the circuit judges determining the winner. — Clifford Ward, Chicago Tribune, 29 May 2026

Steyer won the backing of the powerful California Teachers Association, which previously endorsed Swalwell, and the support of Betty Yee, who suspended her bid last week and further winnowed the race. — Julia Mueller, The Hill, 25 Apr. 2026

The leadership of the AI trade has been winnowed down to Alphabet along with memory stocks and the energy/electrification infrastructure suppliers, which are exploiting product scarcity to impose a quasi-tax on the builders. — Michael Santoli, CNBC, 23 Feb. 2026

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has winnowed thousands of submissions for its Name a Snowplow contest down to 30 finalists. — Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 5 Feb. 2026

After fermentation and toasting, the beans are winnowed and placed in a melanger, a stone grinder that runs for up to 72 to turn the beans into a velvety, smooth paste. — Brock Keeling, Oc Register, 4 Feb. 2026

Finally, Thoreau winnowed once again, translating some, but not all, of the list items to his charts of general phenomena, and carefully noting the dates on which each phenomenon occurred in the spaces of the grid. — Literary Hub, 17 Dec. 2025