demoted

past tense of demote
as in reduced
to bring to a lower grade or rank the court-martial's decision was to demote the officer responsible for the failed mission

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 demoted As for 5-star quarterback Julian Lewis, who was demoted last week, there seems to be more to the situation than Deion is intentionally letting on. — Trey Wallace Outkick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026 McLeod got demoted to the fourth line late in the game and played only three shifts in the third period. — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026 Andy Green spent all of Thursday night thinking about the time Jared Young was demoted from the Chicago Cubs to Triple-A on the final day of the minor league season. — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 18 Sep. 2026 Another is that, with the United States entangled in Iran and busy managing Venezuela, Cuba has simply been demoted as a priority. — Will Freeman, Foreign Affairs, 17 Sep. 2026 After starting the season as Miami’s primary catcher, he was demoted to Triple A Jacksonville in early May after struggling to hit and continuing to have woes defensively behind the plate. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 13 Sep. 2026 The limited series categories will have a diminished role at the main Emmys show after four of them were demoted to the early Emmys weekend. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026 Lucas Erceg was demoted to the minors while Matt Strahm and John Schreiber were offloaded in recent weeks. — Kansas City Star, 3 Sep. 2026 An officer with the Porter County Sheriff’s Department who misused the county’s license plate reader system has been demoted, suspended without pay and faced other disciplinary measures, according to a release from Sheriff Jeffery Balon. — Post-Tribune, Chicago Tribune, 28 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoted
Verb
  • To help pay for its tax cuts, the act reduced Medicaid payments by a trillion dollars over the next decade, though it was designed to delay the full impact of the cuts until 2027, after this year’s elections.
    — Nicholas Lemann, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The agency reduced service earlier this year and has proposed more cuts in recent board meetings.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Following the meeting, the president dismissed the idea of new AI rules and reiterated his view that the industry should police itself.
    — Jeff Masonand Michael Shepard Bloomberg, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
  • Like his brother, John had at first dismissed the idea of an American being elected to the papacy.
    — Scott Detrow, NPR, 3 Oct. 2026
Verb
  • Von Miller has not just defied his age but seemingly ignored it, and for a long time sacked it.
    — Mac Engel October 6, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Patrick Mahomes was sacked just twice Sunday during the Chiefs’ 30-27 win over the Raiders, but the official stats show Las Vegas had eight quarterback hits.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 6 Oct. 2026

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Demoted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoted. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!