Adjacent Words

Moderate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

MOD'ERATE, a. [L. moderatus, from moderor, to limit, from modus, a limit.]
1. Literally, limited; restrained; hence, temperate; observing reasonable bounds in indulgence; as moderate in eating or drinking, or in other gratifications.
2. Limited in quantity; not excessive or expensive. He keeps a moderate table.
3. Restrained in passion, ardor or temper; not violent; as moderate men of both parties.
4. Not extreme in opinion; as a moderate Calvinist or Lutheran.
5. Placed between extremes; holding the mean or middle place; as reformation of a moderate kind.
6. Temperate; not extreme, violent or rigorous; as moderate weather; a moderate winter; moderate heat; a moderate breeze of wind.
7. Of a middle rate; as men of moderate abilities.
8. Not swift; as a moderate walk.
MOD'ERATE, v.t. To restrain from excess of any kind; to reduce from a state of violence; to lessen; to allay; to repress; as, to moderate rage, action, desires, etc.; to moderate heat or wind.
1. To temper; to make temperate; to qualify.
By its astringent quality, it moderates the relaxing quality of warm water.
MOD'ERATE, v.i. To become less violent, severe, rigorous or intense. The cold or winter usually moderates in March; the heat of summer moderates in September.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: being within reasonable or average limits; not excessive or extreme; "moderate prices"; "a moderate income"; "a moderate fine"; "moderate demands"; "a moderate estimate"; "a moderate eater"; "moderate success"; "a kitchen of moderate size"; "the X-ray showed moderate enlargement of the heart" [ant: immoderate]
2: not extreme; "a moderate penalty"; "temperate in his response to criticism" [syn: moderate, temperate]
3: marked by avoidance of extravagance or extremes; "moderate in his demands"; "restrained in his response" [syn: moderate, restrained] n
1: a person who takes a position in the political center [syn: centrist, middle of the roader, moderate, moderationist] v
1: preside over; "John moderated the discussion" [syn: moderate, chair, lead]
2: make less fast or intense; "moderate your speed"
3: lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in restraint; hold or keep within limits; "moderate your alcohol intake"; "hold your tongue"; "hold your temper"; "control your anger" [syn: control, hold in, hold, contain, check, curb, moderate]
4: make less severe or harsh; "He moderated his tone when the students burst out in tears" [syn: mince, soften, moderate]
5: make less strong or intense; soften; "Tone down that aggressive letter"; "The author finally tamed some of his potentially offensive statements" [syn: tone down, moderate, tame]
6: restrain [syn: chasten, moderate, temper]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Latin moderatus, from past participle of moderare to moderate; akin to Latin modus measure Date: 15th century 1. a. avoiding extremes of behavior or expression ; observing reasonable limits <a moderate drinker> b. calm, temperate 2. a. tending toward the mean or average amount or dimension b. having average or less than average quality ; mediocre 3. professing or characterized by political or social beliefs that are not extreme 4. limited in scope or effect 5. not expensive ; reasonable or low in price 6. of a color of medium lightness and medium chroma • moderately adverb • moderateness noun II. verb (-ated; -ating) Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to lessen the intensity or extremeness of <the sun moderated the chill> 2. to preside over or act as chairman of intransitive verb 1. to act as a moderator 2. to become less violent, severe, or intense <the wind began to moderate> • moderation noun III. noun Date: 1794 one who holds moderate views or who belongs to a group favoring a moderate course or program

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj., n., & v. --adj. 1 avoiding extremes; temperate in conduct or expression. 2 fairly or tolerably large or good. 3 (of the wind) of medium strength. 4 (of prices) fairly low. --n. a person who holds moderate views, esp. in politics. --v. 1 tr. & intr. make or become less violent, intense, rigorous, etc. 2 tr. (also absol.) act as a moderator of or to. 3 tr. Physics retard (neutrons) with a moderator. Derivatives: moderately adv. moderateness n. moderatism n. Etymology: ME f. L moderatus past part. of moderare reduce, control: rel. to MODEST

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Moderate Mod"er*ate, n. (Eccl. Hist.) One of a party in the Church of Scotland in the 18th century, and part of the 19th, professing moderation in matters of church government, in discipline, and in doctrine.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Moderate Mod"er*ate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Moderated; p. pr. & vb. n. Moderating.] 1. To restrain from excess of any kind; to reduce from a state of violence, intensity, or excess; to keep within bounds; to make temperate; to lessen; to allay; to repress; to temper; to qualify; as, to moderate rage, action, desires, etc.; to moderate heat or wind. By its astringent quality, it moderates the relaxing quality of warm water. --Arbuthnot. To moderate stiff minds disposed to strive. --Spenser. 2. To preside over, direct, or regulate, as a public meeting; as, to moderate a synod.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Moderate Mod"er*ate, a. [L. moderatus, p. p. of moderate, moderati, to moderate, regulate, control, fr. modus measure. See Mode.] Kept within due bounds; observing reasonable limits; not excessive, extreme, violent, or rigorous; limited; restrained; as: (a) Limited in quantity; sparing; temperate; frugal; as, moderate in eating or drinking; a moderate table. (b) Limited in degree of activity, energy, or excitement; reasonable; calm; slow; as, moderate language; moderate endeavors. (c) Not extreme in opinion, in partisanship, and the like; as, a moderate Calvinist. A number of moderate members managed . . . to obtain a majority in a thin house. --Swift. (d) Not violent or rigorous; temperate; mild; gentle; as, a moderate winter. ``Moderate showers.'' --Walter. (e) Limited as to degree of progress; as, to travel at moderate speed. (f) Limited as to the degree in which a quality, principle, or faculty appears; as, an infusion of moderate strength; a man of moderate abilities. (g) Limited in scope or effects; as, a reformation of a moderate kind. --Hooker.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Moderate Mod"er*ate, v. i. 1. To become less violent, severe, rigorous, or intense; as, the wind has moderated. 2. To preside as a moderator. Dr. Barlow [was] engaged . . . to moderate for him in the divinity disputation. --Bp. Barlow's Remains (1693).

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(moderated) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Moderate political opinions or policies are not extreme. He was an easygoing man of very moderate views... Both countries have called for a moderate approach to the use of force. ? extreme ADJ 2. You use moderate to describe people or groups who have moderate political opinions or policies. ...a moderate Democrat. ...the moderate wing of the army. ADJ • A moderate is someone with moderate political opinions. If he presents himself as a radical he risks scaring off the moderates. N-COUNT 3. You use moderate to describe something that is neither large nor small in amount or degree. While a moderate amount of stress can be beneficial, too much stress can exhaust you. ...moderate exercise. = reasonable ? excessive ADJ: usu ADJ n • moderately Both are moderately large insects. = reasonably ADV: usu ADV adj/-ed, also ADV after v 4. A moderate change in something is a change that is not great. Most drugs offer either no real improvement or, at best, only moderate improvements. ADJ • moderately Share prices on the Tokyo Exchange declined moderately. ADV: ADV after v 5. If you moderate something or if it moderates, it becomes less extreme or violent and easier to deal with or accept. They are hoping that once in office he can be persuaded to moderate his views... Amongst relief workers, the immediate sense of crisis has moderated somewhat... VERB: V n, V • moderation A moderation in food prices helped to offset the first increase in energy prices. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of/in n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Temperate, sparing, frugal. 2. Mediocre. 3. Reasonable, judicious, deliberate, cool, mild, calm, steady. 4. Temperate, mild, gentle. 5. Limited. 6. Reasonable, just. II. v. a. 1. Assuage, soothe, allay, mitigate, soften, mollify, appease, quiet, quell, still, pacify, repress, subdue, abate, reduce, lessen, dull, blunt. 2. Temper, qualify, attemper, diminish. 3. Control, regulate, govern, repress.

Moby Thesaurus

K, Laodicean, abate, acceptable, accepting, act between, adequate, adjust to, admissible, all right, allay, alleviate, alter, ambling, apathetic, arbitrate, arrest, assuage, attemper, average, backpedal, backwater, balanced, banal, bank the fire, bargain, better than nothing, betwixt and between, bland, blunt, bound, box in, brake, budget, calm, cautious, center, central, centrist, chair, chasten, cheap, check, circumscribe, circumspect, claudicant, clement, clip the wings, common, compassionate, compromiser, condition, confine, conservative, constant, constrain, contain, control, controlled, cool, coordinate, copyright, crawling, creeping, creeping like snail, curb, cushion, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, decelerate, decent, decrease, defuse, delay, deliberate, detain, diminish, direct, discipline, discreet, downplay, draw rein, draw the line, dull, ease, ease off, ease up, easy, easygoing, ebb, economic, economy, equable, even, extenuate, fair, fair to middling, fairish, fall, faltering, fifty-fifty, flagging, foot-dragging, forbearant, forbearing, forgiving, frugal, gentle, go between, good enough, goodish, gradual, grave, half-and-half, halting, hedge, hedge about, hobbled, hobbling, hold back, hold in check, hold up, humane, idle, impartial, impede, inconsequential, inconsiderable, independent, indifferent, indolent, inexpensive, insipid, intercede, intermediary, intermediate, interpose, intervene, judge, judicious, keep back, keep within bounds, lackluster, languid, languorous, lax, lay, lazy, leaven, leisurely, lenient, lenify, lessen, let down, let up, let up on, lighten, limit, limping, lose ground, lose momentum, lose speed, low, low-priced, lumbering, make terms, manage, manageable, mean, measured, medial, median, mediate, mediocre, medium, meet halfway, merciful, middle, middle-of-the-road, middle-of-the-roader, middling, midway, mild, mild as milk, mitigate, moderantist, moderationist, moderatist, modest, modify, modulate, mollify, namby-pamby, narrow, negotiate, neuter, neutral, nominal, nonaligned, noncommitted, nonpartisan, nonviolent, normal, not amiss, not bad, not half bad, not so bad, obstruct, obtund, of a kind, of a sort, of sorts, okay, on the fence, ordinary, pacifistic, palliate, paltry, passable, passive, patent, patient, peaceable, peaceful, piddling, play down, poking, poky, presentable, preside over, pretty good, prudent, qualify, rational, reasonable, reduce, reduce the temperature, reef, referee, register, regulate, regulate by, rein in, relax, relaxed, relent, relieve, reluctant, remit, represent, respectable, restrain, restrained, restrict, retard, routine, run, satisfactory, sauntering, scant, season, sedate, sensible, serious, set back, set conditions, set limits, shabby, shoddy, shuffling, slack, slack off, slack up, slacken, slight, slothful, slow, slow as death, slow as molasses, slow as slow, slow down, slow up, slow-crawling, slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced, slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, sluggish, small, smother, snail-paced, snaillike, so-so, sober, sober down, sober-minded, sobersided, soft, soft-shell, soften, solemn, soothe, sparing, specialize, staggering, staid, standard, stay, steady, step in, stifle, stint, stinting, straiten, strolling, subdue, subside, sufficient, supervise, suppress, take in sail, tame, tedious, temper, temperate, tender, tentative, third-force, third-world, throttle down, tidy, toddling, token, tolerable, tolerant, tone down, tortoiselike, tottering, treat with, trifling, trivial, trudging, tune down, turtlelike, umpire, uncommitted, underplay, unexceptionable, unexceptional, unexcessive, unexpensive, unextreme, unhurried, unimpassioned, uninvolved, unobjectionable, usual, vapid, waddling, wane, weaken, wishy-washy, within means, workmanlike, worth the money