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
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Recent Examples of demoted
This was controversial to the public, though, with many feeling that Pluto had been demoted in a dishonorable sense, unjustly kicked out of the club of astronomical objects that people actually care about.
—
Frank Landymore, Futurism, 29 Apr. 2026
Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas’ leading scorer in the regular season, has yet to record a point in the series and was demoted down the lineup by Tortorella on Friday.
—Jesse Granger, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Soon after, leadership demoted Moers from his director position.
—Sam Tabachnik, Denver Post, 24 Apr. 2026
Mavromatis alleges that she was demoted and then fired.
—Stacy Perman, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
After an investigation, the lawsuit says Mavromatis was demoted to social media manager of merchandise.
—Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2026
First she was demoted, then fired.
—Irin Carmon, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2026
Johnson demoted Brewer from board chair following the Pettigrew vote, but Brewer has so far rebuffed the mayor’s attempt to demote him from operating chair, and for now he’s supported by a majority of the board.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
This lawyer, who quit after being reassigned and demoted, recalled being informed by one of Dhillon’s aides that the decision to push out career leadership had not been made by the assistant attorney general.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 13 Apr. 2026
Frank Landymore, Futurism, 29 Apr. 2026
Pavel Dorofeyev, Vegas’ leading scorer in the regular season, has yet to record a point in the series and was demoted down the lineup by Tortorella on Friday.
—Jesse Granger, New York Times, 25 Apr. 2026
Soon after, leadership demoted Moers from his director position.
—Sam Tabachnik, Denver Post, 24 Apr. 2026
Mavromatis alleges that she was demoted and then fired.
—Stacy Perman, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
After an investigation, the lawsuit says Mavromatis was demoted to social media manager of merchandise.
—Winston Cho, HollywoodReporter, 22 Apr. 2026
First she was demoted, then fired.
—Irin Carmon, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2026
Johnson demoted Brewer from board chair following the Pettigrew vote, but Brewer has so far rebuffed the mayor’s attempt to demote him from operating chair, and for now he’s supported by a majority of the board.
—Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 15 Apr. 2026
This lawyer, who quit after being reassigned and demoted, recalled being informed by one of Dhillon’s aides that the decision to push out career leadership had not been made by the assistant attorney general.
—Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 13 Apr. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demoted
Verb
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But since the war began, traffic has been reduced to a trickle, with just 154 vessels recorded crossing in the entire month of March, according to Kpler data.—
Henrik Pettersson,
CNN Money,
29 Apr. 2026
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While there is no question that KU Med is at fault for failing to disinfect the heater-cooler devices, Johnson said, LivaNova should have ensured that the hospital was strictly following its instructions for use, which would have reduced the risk of bacteria spreading.—
Judy L. Thomas,
Kansas City Star,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
The Red Sox had never fired a manger in-season since John Henry purchased the team in 2002, and throughout the franchise’s existence no manager had ever been dismissed midseason so early in the campaign.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
26 Apr. 2026
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Last year, dozens of experts who provided independent evaluations for biomedical research were dismissed from National Institute of Health science review boards.—
National Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Meanwhile, Andy Sachs (Hathaway) has just been sacked from her respected position as an award-winning reporter at a vital, forward-thinking political news outlet.—
Ryan Lattanzio,
IndieWire,
1 May 2026
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While Troy may well have been sacked in a war, historians are largely unwilling to accept that it was ever destroyed by a crack team of Greek soldiers hidden inside a giant wooden horse.—
Gitanjali Roy,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Demoted.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demoted. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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