Adjacent Words

demote definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; "She was demoted because she always speaks up"; "He was broken down to Sergeant" [syn: demote, bump, relegate, break, kick downstairs] [ant: advance, elevate, kick upstairs, promote, raise, upgrade]

Merriam Webster's

transitive verb (demoted; demoting) Etymology: de- + -mote (as in promote) Date: circa 1891 1. to reduce to a lower grade or rank 2. to relegate to a less important position • demotion noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.tr. reduce to a lower rank or class. Derivatives: demotion n. Etymology: DE- + PROMOTE

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Demote De*mote", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Demoted; p. pr. & vb. n. Demoting.] [Pref. de- + mote, as in promote; cf. L. demovere to remove.] To reduce to a lower grade, as in school.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(demotes, demoting, demoted) 1. If someone demotes you, they give you a lower rank or a less important position than you already have, often as a punishment. It's very difficult to demote somebody who has been standing in during maternity leave... ? promote VERB: V n • demotion (demotions) He is seeking redress for what he alleges was an unfair demotion. ? promotion N-VAR 2. If a team in a sports league is demoted, that team has to compete in the next competition in a lower division, because it was one of the least successful teams in the higher division. (BRIT) The club was demoted at the end of last season. ? promote VERB: usu passive, be V-ed • demotion The team now almost certainly faces demotion. ? promotion N-VAR

Moby Thesaurus

abase, boot, bounce, break, bump, bust, can, cashier, debase, defrock, degrade, demean, dement, deplume, depose, deprive, disbar, discharge, disemploy, disgrade, dismiss, displace, displume, downgrade, drum out, expel, fire, furlough, give the ax, give the gate, humble, kick, kick upstairs, lay off, let go, let out, lower, make redundant, pension off, read out of, reduce, release, remove, replace, retire, sack, separate forcibly, strip, strip of rank, superannuate, surplus, suspend, turn off, turn out, unfrock